Duke Opens 2021 Season at Coastal Carolina for Weekend Series

Saturday, February 20

Conway, S.C.

2 P.M.

Duke University

Coastal Carolina

Duke Opens 2021 Season at Coastal Carolina for Weekend Series

2/19/2021 1:36:00 PM | Baseball

Live Stats Duke Game Notes Coastal Carolina Game Notes

DURHAM, N.C. – No. 16 Duke opens its 2021 baseball season on the road as the Blue Devils take on Coastal Carolina in a three-game series on Saturday and Sunday.

FIRST PITCH

Duke opens the 2021 season at Coastal Carolina for a three-game series at Spring Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C. The Blue Devils' first game will be at 2 p.m. Saturday, followed by a doubleheader on Sunday beginning at 12 p.m.
Duke enters the season ranked No. 16 in the Baseball America Preseason Top 25 while Coastal Carolina ranked No. 23 in the Collegiate Baseball Preseason Poll.
Duke returns 31 letterwinners from the shortened 2020 season, including eight of its positional players. Of Duke's 13 newcomers, four (Richard Brereton, Chris Davis, Jay Gamboa and Peter Matt) transferred into the program.
The Blue Devils and Chanticleers meet for just the third time between the two programs. The current series record is 1-1 with both meetings held at Coastal Carolina.

HOW TO FOLLOW
All three games throughout opening weekend will be broadcast on ESPN+. In addition, Chris Edwards has the call on the Blue Devil Sports Network from IMG College and will be available on GoDuke.com or the TuneIn app.

Game 1 – Saturday, 2 p.m. – Watch – Listen – TuneIn – Live Stats
Game 2 – Sunday, 12 p.m. – Watch – Listen – TuneIn – Live Stats
Game 3 – Sunday, approx. 4 p.m. – Watch – Listen – TuneIn – Live Stats

DUKE VS. COASTAL CAROLINA
Duke and Coastal Carolina will meet for just the third time in program history when the two schools square off in Saturday's season opener. The series is split at 1-1 with both meetings coming in Conway, S.C. In the most recent meeting in 2016, Duke dropped a 10-6 decision to the No. 19 ranked Chanticleers. Coastal Carolina went on to win the College World Series that season. The Blue Devils took the first meeting between the two programs in 2014, 7-5. Head coach Chris Pollard owns a 1-1 career record against Coastal Carolina with both meetings coming while he was at Duke.

SCOUTING THE CHANTICLEERS
At the time of the cancelation of the 2020 season, Coastal Carolina held an 11-5 record with a 1-1 mark against ACC opponents. This season, the Chanticleers are picked to win the East Division of the Sun Belt. Still serving as the defending 2019 conference champions, the 2016 National Champions received 10 first-place votes this year. Junior outfielder Parker Chavers and sophomore third baseman Cooper Weiss will look to lead Coastal Carolina this season as both were tabbed preseason All-Sun Belt honorees. Chavers has also received national recognition this preseason having been named a preseason All-American by Perfect Game/Rawlings (first team), Collegiate Baseball (first team) and the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (second team).

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA NODS
Senior catcher Michael Rothenberg and junior right-handed pitcher Cooper Stinson both earned preseason All-America honors heading into the 2021 season. Rothenberg, Duke's mainstay behind the plate, was named to D1Baseball's Preseason All-America third team after leading the ACC in on-base percentage (.551) last season. He currently owns a reached-base streak of 24 consecutive games, dating back to 2019. Rothenberg batted .349 throughout the 2020 campaign, tying for 18th in the conference, while compiling 17 RBI to lead the Blue Devils. Stinson was named a third team preseason All-American by the NCBWA. Stinson put together a 3-0 record as Duke's Saturday starter in the shortened 2020 season. He carried a 0.42 ERA through the year, ranking first in the league and 15th nationally. Stinson opened the 2020 campaign with 19.2 consecutive innings pitched of scoreless baseball. In addition, Stinson ranked eighth in the ACC in WHIP (0.92) and ninth in walks allowed per nine innings (1.66).

WEALTH OF OFFENSIVE EXPERIENCE RESTURNS
Duke returns a wealth of offensive experience for the 2021 campaign, including eight of the nine starting positional players. The Blue Devils look to keep the bats alive this season, returning over 80 percent of their at-bats, hits, runs scored, doubles and RBI from a season ago. In addition, Duke added multiple offensive threats through graduate transfers Chris Davis, Peter Matt and the 2021 freshman class.

POLLARD IN SEASON OPENERS
Head coach Chris Pollard owns a 4-4 record in season openers across his eight seasons at Duke. The Blue Devils have won five of their last seven three-game sets on opening weekend during the Pollard-era, while also owning an 13-12 mark during the first weekend of the season under Pollard.

FEBRUARY BY THE NUMBERS
The Blue Devils have had great success in the month of February over the last three seasons, owning a record of 22-5 in the opening month of the year. Last season, Duke got out to a 9-1 start in February, the best start under head coach Chris Pollard. The Blue Devils own a record of 45-21 in the opening month of the season during Pollard's tenure in Durham.

Duke in the month of February (2013-present)
Season Record
2013      4-3
2014      5-4
2015      7-1
2016      4-3
2017      3-6
2018      6-2
2019      7-1
2020      9-1

DUKE IN THE RANKINGS
The Blue Devils come into the 2021 campaign ranked in three of the six national collegiate baseball polls. Duke landed its highest preseason nod in the Baseball America Preseason Poll as the Blue Devils checked in at No. 16. This is the fourth consecutive and fourth all-time season that Duke has been ranked in the preseason polls. Duke was also tabbed No. 27 by the National College Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA), No. 36 in the Collegiate Baseball poll and received votes in the USA Today Baseball Coaches Poll. Although unranked by D1Baseball, the publication did list Duke in its "Top 25: 10 More to Watch" heading into the 2021 season.

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