Coastal Carolina welcomes West Virginia, Virginia Tech, George Mason, Iowa and N.C. State to Myrtle Beach for the Caravelle Resort’s annual Baseball at the Beach Tournament.
Here is the schedule:
Friday February 24, 2012
West Virginia v. Virginia Tech – 12:00 p.m. at BB&T Coastal Field
George Mason v. N.C. State – 2:00 p.m. at Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field
Coastal Carolina v. Iowa – 4:00 p.m. at BB&T Coastal Field
Saturday February 25, 2012
George Mason v. Iowa – 11:00 a.m. at Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field
Coastal v. Virginia Tech – 1:00 p.m. at BB&T Coastal Field
N. C. State v. West Virginia – 3:00 p.m. at Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field
Virginia Tech v. George Mason – 5:00 p.m. at BB&T Coastal Field
Sunday February 26, 2012
Iowa v. Virginia Tech – 10:00 a.m. at Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field
West Virginia v. George Mason – 11:00 a.m. at BB&T Coastal Field ET
Coastal Carolina v. North Carolina State – 3:00 p.m. at BB&T Coastal Field
The Chanticleers are 1-2 after the opening weekend. This week they will try to get to .500 against ACC teams and start off with a win against their first Big Ten team of the season.
Here is a brief look at Coastal’s opponents.
Iowa (1-2)
The Hawkeyes make the trip up to Myrtle Beach from St. Petersburg, Florida where they went 1-2 in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge last weekend. They won their opener 7-5 against Pittsburgh but lost games two and three to Notre Dame 5-2 and WVU 4-3, respectively.
Expect to see senior LHP Jarred Hippen start on the mound Friday. Hippen ranks 10th among active pitchers with 180 career strikeouts. He is also a two-time second team All-Big Ten honoree and one of three pitchers named to the 2012 Big Ten Preseason All-Conference First Team by College Sports Madness.
Last Friday against Pittsburgh, Hippen went 5 and two-thirds innings while giving up five runs and striking out two. He gave up 10 hits and one walk.
Senior relief pitcher Tim Fangman (1-0) heads up the bullpen. He relieved Hippen in the sixth and closed out the game for the win. The right hander retired ten of the twelve batters he faced while striking out two and giving up an infield single.
The preseason hype was that the Iowa offense would be led by Mike “Q” McQuillan and so far the senior second baseman has one hit in each game. Senior first baseman Phil Keppler started the year off with three hits in game one but hasn’t had one since.
Chett Zeise 
on the other hand, has six hits this season – two in each of the three previous games. It’s just a matter of time before these hitters get their stride and if they break out at the same time, it could be a high scoring game. So far though, the Hawkeyes have spread the scoring around with seven players having at least one RBI.
Virginia Tech (3-1)
The Hokies were 40-22 last year and 16-14 in the ACC. They were selected to finish third from the bottom in the ACC coaches’ preseason poll. That’s the same poll that had Boston College picked last and the Eagles are now 3-0 with wins over CWS participant Virginia, James Madison and of course our beloved Chants.
The Virginia Tech pitching staff is loaded. Two-thirds of last year’s weekend rotation return in LHP Joe Mantiply (5-8, 4.36) and RHP Marc Zecchino (6-5, 4.66, 97Ks). Redshirt-senior Manny Martir, junior Patrick Scoggin and sophomore Eddie Campbell also return with starting experience and will vie for that third spot in the rotation.
The bullpen will have plenty of experienced arms with transfers Andrew Aizenstadt, junior Tanner McIntyre and redshirt-sophomore Devin Burke.
The Hokie offense is led by Andrew Rash from Westside High School in Anderson, SC. The redshirt-junior outfielder (.335) had a slugging percentage of .707 in 2011. His preseason honors this year include Collegiate Baseball’s Louisville Slugger preseason All-America, third team outfield and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association preseason All-America, third team outfield.
Coastal Carolina defeated Virginia Tech 6-5 in last year’s contest with Tripp Martin’s walk-off two-run home run.
N. C. State (3-1)
The Wolfpack come to Myrtle Beach with a 3-1 record and some pretty imposing numbers. They outscored opponents 34-6 in their three wins. Last weekend N.C. State defeated Marshall 10-3 and Youngstown State 14-3 before dropping a game to Wright State 5-4 in 11 innings.
On Tuesday night the Wolfpack scoring machine continued to roll as they shutout UNC-Wilmington 10-0.
The offense is led by Chris Diaz. The junior SS leads the team at .500 and has a four game hit streak. Fellow infielders freshman 3B Trea Turner (.400) and senior Danny Canela (.400) are also swinging the bat well this year, as is senior Andrew Ciencin who went 3-for-5 in the UNC-W game.
The Pack has a solid starting rotation this year. Freshman LHP Carlos Rodon, Baseball America’s number 3 college prospect, has already made two appearances. He came on in relief in game one to pitch four innings and pick up the win. He went five scoreless innings against Wilmington for a no decision. It’s probably just a matter of time before he gets into the weekend rotation.
D.J. Thomas, junior RHP Ethan Ogburn and Vance Williams were the projected preseason starting rotation. Ogburn started game one. However, Junior RHP Danny Healey and redshirt sophomore RHP Anthony Tzamtzis started games two and three, repectively.
Chris Overman is the bullpen leader. He is on the national Stopper of the Year watch list.
Last year N.C. State defeated Coastal 12-3.
