BUIES CREEK, N.C. — For the first time since 2011, Campbell University baseball will open its season on the road, as the Camels are set to face Maryland, VCU and Coastal Carolina as part of the Brittain Resorts Invitational in Conway, S.C.

Campbell will open the tournament against Maryland Friday, Feb. 15 at 11 a.m. The Camels will face VCU Saturday, Feb. 16 at 11 a.m. and wrap up the tournament Sunday, Feb. 17 with a 3 p.m. matchup against No. 12 Coastal Carolina.

All three Campbell games will feature a live audio broadcast through the Campbell Digital Network, while live stats will be provided via SIDEARM stats (goccusports.com).

Campbell, the defending Big South regular season and tournament champions were picked as the preseason favorite to win the 2019 baseball title by the Big South coaches.

2018 Big South Coach of the Year Justin Haire enters his fifth season as head coach at CU and 12th overall on the Campbell coaching staff. Haire guided the Camels to a 35-26 record overall in 2018, good for CU's winningest season since 2014. The Camels racked up a program-record 21 conference victories, tying the Big South all-time mark on way to their third regular season title in the school's Division I history.

Matthew Barefoot was named the Big South Preseason Player of the Year, as voted on by the conference head coaches. A first team all-conference selection in 2018, Barefoot led the Camels in 10 offensive categories: batting average (.364), slugging percentage (.585), on-base percentage (.484), runs (58), hits (79), doubles (18), triples (3), walks (30), HBP (23) and steals (33).

Campbell returns 15 players from last season's championship roster, highlighted by Barefoot and second team all-conference honorees Michael Horrell and Tyson Messer. Horrell made 14 starts on the mound on the way to a 6-4 overall record. His 3.75 ERA ranked sixth among starting pitchers in the league, while his six wins were tied for second. Messer led the Big South with eight saves, while limiting opponents to a .191 batting average (17-for-89).

Tyler Anshaw returns for his second season after playing in all 61 games in 2018. He ranked third on the team with 54 hits, including 11 doubles, three triples and three homers. Venezuelan shortstop Luis Gimenez enters his second season at CU after stealing 23 bases on 27 attempts last year, which ranked fourth in the conference.

Backstop Zach Minnick will play his fourth season for the Orange & Black. The Logan, W.Va., native led the Big South with 23 runners caught stealing in 2018. He ranked fifth on the club with 28 RBI and a .359 slugging percentage.

Campbell's top returning relief pitchers include: Phil Simpson, Wyatt Tyson and Jack Yusko. The trio combined for 65.2 innings across 61 relief appearances last season, totaling 53 strikeouts.

The 2019 roster features 25 newcomers with 17 transfers and eight freshmen joining the Fighting Camels this season. Louisburg College transfer Seth Johnson comes to the Creek after receiving a No.-43 ranking on Perfect Game's Top 100 College Prospects list for the 2019 MLB Draft. During his two years at LC, Johnson made five pitching appearances, striking out 11 batters while allowing no walks over 6.0 innings.

Tabbed the Big South Preseason Freshman of the Year by D1Baseball, rookie Ryan Chasse is a left-handed pitcher/first baseman from nearby Apex, N.C. A product of Middle Creek High School, Chasse was named to the North Carolina Baseball Coaches Association (NCBCA) 4A All-State team. He finished his prep career with a .309 batting average.

Download the 2019 Preseason Notebook (PDF) for more notes on the Fighting Camels.

Maryland Terrapins

• Rob Vaughn enters his second season as the Maryland head coach after going 24-30 in his first season at the helm.
• The Terrapins went 9-14 in Big Ten action, just missing out on the conference tournament by one game.
• Opening Day starter Hunter Parsons went 5-2 last season, totaling a team-high 62 strikeouts across 89.0 innings.
• The Terrapins are without All-Big Ten First Team recipient Nick Dunn, who led the team with a .330 batting average, 70 hits and 10 home runs. AJ Lee is MU's top returning bat, as the infielder started all 54 games while batting .232 with eight doubles.
• Campbell and Maryland meet for the first time since 1992. The Terrapins own the all-time series 4-2.

VCU Rams

• Led by seventh-year head coach Shawn Stiffler, VCU went 34-23 a year ago, which included a 14-10 mark in the Atlantic 10.
• After finishing tied for fifth in the A-10 standings last season, the Rams were picked to finish second in the 2019 preseason coaches poll, receiving two first-place votes.
• Second Team All-Atlantic 10 and All-Atlantic 10 Rookie Team recipient Hogan Brown is VCU's top returning position player. Brown, a Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (CBN) All-American, batted .344 with 11 doubles and 21 RBI last season.
• Senior closer Mac McCarty, a CBN Preseason All-American, recorded 36 strikeouts across 38.2 innings of work in 2018. A submarine righty, McCarty made 30 appearances with a 3.26 ERA.
• The Camels and Rams will meet for the first time since 1993. VCU won the game 8-6, but Campbell's Ed Stanley hit three triples against the Rams, a program record that still stands for CU.

Coastal Carolina Chanticleers

• Sunday's game between CU and Coastal Carolina is the first meeting since 2016, Coastal's last season in the Big South. The Chanticleers went on to win the NCAA National Championship that season, the first and only national championship for the Big South.
• Head coach Gary Gilmore begins his 24th season at the helm of Coastal Carolina baseball after leading the Chanticleers to a 43-19 record in 2018.
• Coastal Carolina swept the Sun Belt regular season and tournament championships, hosting its fourth NCAA regional in program history.
• The Chanticleers return preseason All-Americans Cory Wood and Zach Biermann, who batted .296 and .302, respectively, last season. The CCU roster also features second-team All-Sun Belt recipient Matt Eardensohn, who went 7-0 with a team-high seven saves last year.
• The Chanticleers garnered top 25 preseason rankings from Collegiate Baseball (No. 12), D1Baseball (No. 21), the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (No. 22), USA Today (No. 22), Baseball America (No. 23) and Perfect Game (No. 25).

Following this weekend's tournament, the Camels will return home to host nationally ranked East Carolina on Wednesday, Feb. 20 at 6 p.m.. Next weekend, Campbell will play its first three-game series of the season against the Georgetown Hoyas, which is set to begin on Friday, Feb. 22.