Baseball Drops Opening Game in Lincoln Regional
5/30/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
LINCOLN, Neb. — Dant’e Brinkley went 3-for-5 with two home runs and five RBI, to help third-seeded Southwest Missouri State defeat second-seeded Coastal Carolina, 8-3, at the NCAA Lincoln Regional at Hawks Field at Baymarket Park in Lincoln, Neb.
Coastal (45-17) would get on the board in the second inning with a pair of runs, courtesy of a home run by Adam Pernasilici, his second on the season.
SMS (36-23) would answer with two runs of their own, on a two-run blast to left field by Brinkley.
Coastal would re-take the lead in the fourth on Mike Costanzo's eighth home run of the year, a solo blast to centerfield.
SMS would post four runs in the fifth to take a 6-3 lead. Brinkley would drive in his third run of the game on a single scoring Adam Pummill from third. The Bears would then score its next run on a bases loaded walk to Greg Mathis. After a sacrifice fly by Clay Wheeler to make the score 5-3, Tony Piazza would then cap off the inning with a single to center scoring Brooks Colvin from second.
Brinkley would provide insurance for SMS in the ninth, with his second home run of the night, a two-run shot to right center.
Chad Mulholland (10-3) picked up the win for the Bears after hurling 5-1/3 innings, allowing three runs and striking out five. Shaun Marcum shutdown the CCU bats in the last two innings to pick up his 12th save of the season. Justin Sturge (10-3) suffered the loss for Coastal, allowing five runs in 4-1/3 innings of work.
Coastal will face fourth-seed Eastern Michigan in an elimination game, Saturday morning at 11:05 a.m. (CST) Southwest Missouri State will advance to the winner’s bracket and will take on top-seeded Nebraska at 3:35 p.m.
