Coastal Baseball to open NCAA regional play against Virginia Friday night

CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers will open up play at the 2022 NCAA Greenville Regional versus the Virginia Cavaliers on Friday, June 3, at 6 p.m. E.T. at Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville, N.C. The NCAA Greenville Regional will consist of Coastal, host East Carolina, Virginia, and Coppin State.

Friday

Game 1: 1 p.m. E.T. – No. 4 Coppin State vs. No. 1 East Carolina (ESPN+)

Game 2: 6 p.m. E.T. – No. 3 Coastal Carolina vs. No. 2 Virginia (ESPN+)

Saturday

Game 3: 1 p.m. E.T. – Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2

Game 4: 7 p.m. E.T. – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Sunday

Game 5: 1 p.m. E.T. – Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4

Game 6: 7 p.m. E.T. – Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5

Monday

Game 7: 1 p.m. E.T. – If Necessary

WAYS TO FOLLOW

• TV: ESPN+ (Friday) / Select games will be on ESPN2, ESPNU, and ESPN+ throughout the weekend

• Radio: WRNN Hot Talk 99.5 FM (Saturday)

• Online Audio: https://wrnn.net/

• Live Stats: www.coastal.statbroadcast.com

• Twitter: @CoastalBaseball

NO STRANGERS TO THE REGIONALS

• Coastal Carolina is making the program’s 18th NCAA Regional appearance this weekend at the NCAA Greenville Regional hosted by East Carolina University.• The Chanticleers have made 17 NCAA Regionals under head coach Gary Gilmore, all since the NCAA went to 64 teams in 1999.• The 17 NCAA Regional appearances since 1999 by the Chanticleers are tied for the 18th-most in all of NCAA Division I baseball.

CHANTS IN NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT PLAY

• Coastal is 31-36 (.463) all-time in NCAA Championship Tournament play entering the NCAA Greenville Regional this weekend at East Carolina.• The Chanticleer are 23-30 (.434) all-time in NCAA Regional play.• In Super Regional play, the Chants are 2-4 overall with both of their wins coming over LSU at Alex Box Stadium in 2016.• While CCU has made just one College World Series appearance, the Chants made the best of it, going 6-2 overall and winning the 2016 National Championship.

DESTINATION GREENVILLE (N.C.)

• The Chanticleers will be playing in Greenville, N.C., for the first time in NCAA postseason play this weekend.• Lewis Field at Clark-LeClair Stadium in Greenville (N.C.) will mark the 16th different NCAA Regional venue for the Chanticleers over their now 18 regional appearances.

LOOKING FOR HISTORY TO REPEAT ITSELF

• Coastal has played twice in the state of North Carolina in NCAA Regional play, at the NCAA Chapel Hill Regional in 2009 and the NCAA Raleigh Regional in 2016.• While the Chants went 1-2 overall at the 2009 NCAA Regional in Chapel Hill, Coastal won the last regional that it played in the Tar Heel State, winning the 2016 NCAA Raleigh Regional by going 3-1 and defeating the NC State Wolfpack 7-5 with four runs in the top of the ninth in the second championship game.

UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES

• Coastal and East Carolina last met on the baseball diamond at the 2008 NCAA Conway Regional hosted by the Chanticleers at Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field.• The Chanticleers defeated East Carolina 24-11 in the championship game and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time in program history.

ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY

• Coastal Carolina holds a slight 7-5 edge overall versus East Carolina in the all-time series.• The Chanticleers have won each of the last two meetings between the two teams, which dates back to 2008, and is a perfect 6-0 at home all-time versus the Pirates.• However, CCU has struggled in Greenville, N.C., as the Chants are just 1-5 versus ECU on the Pirates’ home field.

REGIONAL HISTORY

• Coastal Carolina is 1-0 versus the East Carolina Pirates in NCAA Regional play overall.• The Chanticleers defeated East Carolina 24-11 in the 2008 NCAA Conway Regionals Championship game and advanced to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time in program history.

ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY

• Coastal Carolina holds a slim 5-4 advantage over the Virginia Cavaliers in the all-time series.• The Chanticleers won the last meeting between the two teams back in Conway, S.C. in 2016 after the Cavaliers had won three consecutive contests from 2010 to 2012.• The longest winning streak in the all-time series is three-straight wins, first set by Coastal from 2007 to 2008, followed by three consecutive wins by Virginia from 2010 to 2012.

CHANTS VERSUS THE ACC IN NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• Coastal Carolina is 3-14 versus the Atlantic Coastal Conference (ACC) in NCAA Regional play.• Coastal is 2-1 versus NC State, 1-3 against Georgia Tech, 0-1 versus Virginia Tech, 0-4 against North Carolina, and 0-5 versus Clemson.• The Chanticleers are also 1-0 versus Louisville (2002) and 0-1 versus Florida State (1991), but neither team was part of the ACC at the time of the contest.

ALL-TIME SERIES HISTORY

• Coastal Carolina and Coppin State have never met on the baseball diamond.

CHANTS VERSUS THE MEAC IN NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY

• Coastal is 2-0versus the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in NCAA Regional play.• CCU is 1-0 versus Florida A&M (2019) and 1-0 versus Texas Southern (2015), both of which are no longer members of the MEAC.• The Chanticleers are 5-0 all-time versus the current members of the MEAC, with all five wins coming over Delaware State.

RIDING THE COASTAL WAVE

• Coastal has been riding a wave of momentum the last month, and it has come at the right time as the Chanticleers enter postseason play.• The Chants enter the tournament having won six out of their last eight games and eight of their last 11 contests.• CCU has also won 16 of its last 21 games over the last month, which included winning 13 of its last 15 Sun Belt Conference games.• Since being swept at home by Georgia State (April 8-10), the Chanticleers won 16 of 18 Sun Belt Conference games and 19 of its last 24 contests.

VERSUS RANKED TEAMS THIS SEASON

• Coastal played six nationally-ranked teams throughout the regular season, including conference foes Texas State and Georgia Southern.• The Chanticleers are 6-6 in 12 games versus top-30 nationally ranked teams with wins over then-No. 16 Central Michigan (Feb. 19), No. 30 Wake Forest (March 8), No. 20 Clemson (March 22), and one over No. 9 Texas State (March 26). CCU added two more wins on the road over then-No. 17 Georgia Southern (April 29 & 30).• The six losses all came on the road by way of three to then-No. 21 North Carolina (March 4-6), two at No. 9 Texas State (March 25 & 27), and one at No. 17 Georgia Southern (May 1).

NEUTRAL-SITE NARRATIVE

• Coastal is 0-1 this season in neutral site games, having suffered a quarterfinals loss to No. 6 Troy 6-4 at the 2022 Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship Tournament in Montgomery, Ala., last weekend.• The Chanticleers have had a losing record in neutral-site contests just once under head coach Gary Gilmore since 1996, going 0-1 in 2017.

NON-CONFERENCE PLAY

• Coastal Carolina finished the season at 15-10 in non-conference action while playing the second-hardest non-conference schedule in all of NCAA Division I baseball.• The Chanticleers went 7-1 in non-conference play to start the season before dropping four consecutive non-conference games on the road to start the month of March and then closed the year out by winning eight of their final 12 non-conference games over the last two months of the regular season.• CCU’s last non-conference loss came at the 2022 Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship Tournament, as the Chants fell to Troy 6-4 in the quarterfinals.

2022 STATE CHAMPIONS

• Coastal Carolina is the ONLY institution from the state of South Carolina to earn a spot in the NCAA Regionals this year.• This season, the Chants played two teams from the Palmetto State in Clemson and the College of Charleston.• The Chants went 2-0 and completed the season sweep of the Clemson Tigers with a 16-7 win at Clemson on March 22 and a 17-2 victory over the Tigers at home on May 17.• CCU went 2-0 versus the College of Charleston with a 7-2, seven-inning win, on April 6, which was finally deemed an official game on May 14, and a 17-7 win at Charleston on April 26.

IN THE TAR HEEL STATE

• This season, the Chanticleers have struggled while playing in the Tar Heel State.• Coastal is 0-7 this season when playing in the state of North Carolina, with a midweek road loss at UNCW (March 2), three losses at nationally-ranked North Carolina (March 4-6), and midweek road losses at Wake Forest (March 30), Charlotte (April 19), and UNC G (May 11).

FOUR CHANTS EARN SUN BELT CONFERENCE HONORS

• Headlining the conference award winners for the Chants was redshirt senior left-handed pitcher Reid VanScoter who was named the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year and also earned a spot on the All-Sun Belt first team.• Senior pitcher Michael Knorr, senior designated hitter Tyler Johnson, and junior third baseman Dale Thomas were all named to the All-Sun Belt second team.

ALL-TOURNAMENT HONORS FOR KNORR

• On top of earning All-Sun Belt second-team honors, Michael Knorr was also named to the 2022 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship All-Tournament team.

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