University of Maine freshman third baseman Troy Carpenter, who led America East in homers with 16 and earned a spot on the league’s All-Rookie team this past spring, has transferred to national power Coastal Carolina in Conway, South Carolina, according to his Instagram account.
Coastal Carolina has earned NCAA Tournament berths in nine of the last 11 seasons and was the College World Series runnerup to Louisiana State University in 2025. The Chanticleers won their only national title in 2016.
The 6-foot-4, 210-pound freshman from Kathleen, Georgia, tied for second in the conference in runs batted in with 53. He hit .244 for the Black Bears and had 16 games with at least two RBIs including four with four.
In addition to leading the team in homers and RBIs, he was second on the team in slugging percentage at .512 and in total bases (109) and third in OPS at .861 and in runs scored with 41.
Carpenter had seven doubles and a triple. He also led the team in strikeouts with 65 and in errors with 13 in 164 chances.
Before coming to UMaine, Carpenter attended IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida.
He will be reunited with new Coastal Carolina general manager Tony Skole, who was involved in player development and evaluation at IMG Academy.
“No hard feelings. It is what it is. I wish him well,” said UMaine baseball coach Nick Derba. “If he doesn’t want to be here, we don’t want him here.
“We will continue to win games and develop pros and big leaguers and if players feel a need to go somewhere else, I have no control over that.”
The Chanticleers will have a new head coach in former Mississippi State and Indiana skipper Chris Lemonis. He replaced Kevin Schnall, who left to become the head coach at University of South Carolina.
Coastal Carolina went 37-23 this past spring and played in the Florida State Regional where it lost to Northern Illinois 12-10 and Florida State 2-1.
Two years ago, Coastal Carolina posted 56 wins which was the most of any Division I school that season and also set a school record.
But LSU swept the Chanticleers 1-0 and 5-3 in their best-of-three College World Series championship series.
