To kick off the 2024 baseball season, head coach Gary Gilmore and his current squad will face their

first opponent on Feb. 16 against George Mason University at Springs Brooks Stadium.

The team ended their last season 42-21 after the playoffs and are in a good overall standing heading into the next.

Coming into the spring 2024 season, Gilmore and his staff recruited the No. 1 junior college recruit along with other transfers and freshmen. Among these recruits are Sam Antonucci, Elias Holbert, Ty Barrango and Dominick Carbone.

In the NCAA Division I rankings, Coastal Carolina University sits at No. 18 with the return of key players like Derek Bender, Caiden Bodine, Graham Brown and the addition of Holbert, Antonucci and other recruits. However, with these high standings come high expectations.

Catcher Bender said he has hopes for Omaha this season.

“I know it’s a pretty obvious one, pretty cliché one, but I think if we don’t make it to Omaha, I think for sure this team is underachieving,” Bender said.

Throughout the offseason, there were several new additions to the team, both through the transfer portal and recruitment.

“This team is a pretty tightknit group. I think we have all these expectations that we want to win, and I think we value that more than anything else,” Bender said. “Like we bond on X’s and O’s.”

Coastal will play competitive and elite teams, in difficult conferences such as Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and Power Five, which will test this young team as a whole.

When it comes time to play Clemson University and Wake Forest University, pitcher Darin Horn believes these matchups will be difficult, yet manageable.

“To play those top 25 games every year, it’s kind of nice to help you with your RBI, so you get a boost if you win those games,” Horn said.