Coastal Carolina

Coastal Carolina baseball releases 2016 baseball schedule

Coastal Carolina head coach, Gary Gilmore (right) smiles as shortstop Michael Paez rounds third after hitting a solo home run during a game last year. The Chanticleers have pieced together a tough 2016 schedule stacked with premier opponents.
Coastal Carolina head coach, Gary Gilmore (right) smiles as shortstop Michael Paez rounds third after hitting a solo home run during a game last year. The Chanticleers have pieced together a tough 2016 schedule stacked with premier opponents. cslate@thesunnews.com

Coastal Carolina baseball coach Gary Gilmore believes his 2016 team has the potential to play its way into hosting an NCAA regional if all goes as hoped, and he wants to make sure the Chanticleers have every opportunity to do just that.

So Gilmore has again loaded up the Chants’ non-conference schedule with some of college baseball’s premier programs, announcing on Thursday a slate that features 19 teams who finished last season among the top-100 in the RPI and seven teams who reached the NCAA regional round.

Overall, the schedule includes 11 games against ACC and SEC opponents.

“It’s another fantastic challenge again,” Gilmore said. “... It’s got to be one of the more difficult out-of-conference schedules in the entire country. It’s going to be very interesting how it plays out. It’s the kind of schedule that if we play extremely well will put us in a position to hopefully be able to play here at the end of the year.”

Coastal Carolina is coming off a 39-21 finish last year and has reached the NCAA regionals in 13 of the last 15 seasons.

They’ll certainly have plenty of opportunities to build their resume again this spring, starting right away in February.

The Chants open the season Feb. 19-21 in the annual Caravelle Resort Tournament with games against Appalachian State, NC State and reigning NCAA national champion Virginia.

It’s another fantastic challenge again. ... It’s got to be one of the more difficult out-of-conference schedules in the entire country.

CCU baseball coach Gary Gilmore

Other ACC opponents this coming season include home games with Duke (Feb. 28) and Wake Forest (March 8-9), a road game at North Carolina (April 19) and a three-game series at Georgia Tech (April 29-May 1).

Also on the schedule are SEC foes Mississippi (home March 5) and South Carolina (away April 5) and two home games each with Big Ten opponents Ohio State (Feb. 27, 29) and Illinois (March 12-13).

Additionally, Coastal Carolina will play four games (two home, two away) with College of Charleston this season and three (one home, two away) with UNC Wilmington, building up those regional rivalries.

“We just basically all talked about it. It’s like a mini-World Series game for all of us when we play one another, and it’s a great RPI [help] for each of us,” Gilmore said. “It gives us opportunities regionally to really give us a chance to have a shot at an at-large and when you have a tremendous amount of success, which we have two or three times, you put yourself in a position to possibly host a regional.”

2016 CCU Baseball Schedule

Date

Opponent

Location

Time

Feb. 19

Appalachian State

Springs Brooks Stadium

4 p.m.

Feb. 20

NC State

Springs Brooks Stadium

2 p.m.

Feb. 21

Virginia

Springs Brooks Stadium

2 p.m.

Feb. 23

at UNC Wilmington

Wilmington, N.C.

4 p.m.

Feb. 26

Marshall

Springs Brooks Stadium

4 p.m.

Feb. 27

Ohio State

Springs Brooks Stadium

2 p.m.

Feb. 28

Duke

Springs Brooks Stadium

2 p.m.

Feb. 29

Ohio State

Springs Brooks Stadium

4 p.m.

March 2

at College of Charleston

Mount Pleasant, S.C.

5 p.m.

March 4

Cincinnati

Springs Brooks Stadium

4 p.m.

March 5

Mississippi

Springs Brooks Stadium

3 p.m.

March 6

Ball State

Springs Brooks Stadium

3 p.m.

March 8

Wake Forest

Springs Brooks Stadium

5 p.m.

March 9

Wake Forest

Springs Brooks Stadium

5 p.m.

March 11

UNC Greensboro

Springs Brooks Stadium

4 p.m.

March 12

Illinois

Springs Brooks Stadium

4 p.m.

March 13

Illinois

Springs Brooks Stadium

11 a.m.

March 13

UNC Greensboro

Springs Brooks Stadium

3 p.m.

March 16

at UNC Wilmington

Wilmington, N.C.

6 p.m.

March 18

at Longwood

Farmville, Va.

6 p.m.

March 19

at Longwood

Farmville, Va.

4 p.m.

March 20

at Longwood

Farmville, Va.

2 p.m.

March 22

at College of Charleston

Mount Pleasant, S.C.

6 p.m.

March 24

Stetson

Springs Brooks Stadium

6 p.m.

March 25

Stetson

Springs Brooks Stadium

6 p.m.

March 26

Stetson

Springs Brooks Stadium

1 p.m.

March 30

The Citadel

Springs Brooks Stadium

6 p.m.

April 1

Gardner-Webb

Springs Brooks Stadium

6 p.m.

April 2

Gardner-Webb

Springs Brooks Stadium

2 p.m.

April 3

Gardner-Webb

Springs Brooks Stadium

2 p.m.

April 5

at South Carolina

Columbia, S.C.

7 p.m.

April 8

at Radford

Radford, Va.

6:30 p.m.

April 9

at Radford

Radford, Va.

4 p.m.

April 10

at Radford

Radford, Va.

2 p.m.

April 12

College of Charleston

Springs Brooks Stadium

6 p.m.

April 15

Presbyterian

Springs Brooks Stadium

6 p.m.

April 16

Presbyterian

Springs Brooks Stadium

2 p.m.

April 17

Presbyterian

Springs Brooks Stadium

2 p.m.

April 19

at North Carolina

Chapel Hill, N.C.

6 p.m.

April 20

College of Charleston

Springs Brooks Stadium

6 p.m.

April 22

High Point

Springs Brooks Stadium

6 p.m.

April 23

High Point

Springs Brooks Stadium

2 p.m.

April 24

High Point

Springs Brooks Stadium

2 p.m.

April 29

at Georgia Tech

Atlanta, Ga.

7 p.m.

April 30

at Georgia Tech

Atlanta, Ga.

4 p.m.

May 1

at Georgia Tech

Atlanta, Ga.

1 p.m.

May 6

at Liberty

Lynchburg, Va.

7 p.m.

May 7

at Liberty

Lynchburg, Va.

7 p.m.

May 8

at Liberty

Lynchburg, Va.

2 p.m.

May 13

at Charleston Southern

Charleston, S.C.

6 p.m.

May 14

at Charleston Southern

Charleston, S.C.

4 p.m.

May 15

at Charleston Southern

Charleston, S.C.

2 p.m.

May 17

UNC Wilmington

Springs Brooks Stadium

6 p.m.

May 19

Campbell

Springs Brooks Stadium

6 p.m.

May 20

Campbell

Springs Brooks Stadium

6 p.m.

May 21

Campbell

Springs Brooks Stadium

2 p.m.

May 24-28

Big South tournament

TBA

This story was originally published November 12, 2015 at 4:00 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina baseball releases 2016 baseball schedule."

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