Box Score Baseball Defeats Charleston Southern 3-1 on Senior Day

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CONWAY, S.C. – The 22^nd-ranked Coastal Carolina University baseball team (42-13, 21-5 Big South) received solid pitching for the third straight game as the Chanticleers defeated Charleston Southern (16-36, 10-15 Big South) 3-1 May 16 in Conway, S.C., on Senior Day at Watson Stadium/Vrooman Field. Coastal Carolina went 10-0 on its season-ending homestand.   Rain delayed the game for 1:48 after the Senior Day ceremonies, as both teams plated runs in the first inning. Brantley Meier led off the game for Charleston Southern with a walk. He moved to second on a walk to Patrick Dolan. The Bucs put runners on the corners after a fielder’s choice. Tyler Thornburg then hit a fly ball to center that scored Meier and put runners on second and third after sophomore Rico Noel (Lawton, Okla./Lawton) dropped the fly ball. Freshman Anthony Meo (Cranston, R.I./Cranston West) got out of the jam by getting Derek Smith to pop out and Kory Morian to strike out.   The Chants answered with a run in the bottom of the first. Noel singled and went to second on a sacrifice bunt from junior Adam Rice (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/Elgin C.C.).    Noel stole third and scored on a sacrifice fly from senior David Anderson (Lexington, S.C./White Knoll).    The game would remain tied at one until the bottom of the fourth, when the Chants used some two-out magic. Sophomore Scott Woodward (Markle, Ind./Norwell) walked and stole second. Noel walked and Woodward would then steal third. Rice then brought Woodward in with a single through the right side.    Coastal Carolina left 13 runners on base, but added an insurance run in the eighth as Rice scored Woodward with a single to left.   Charleston Southern’s best chance of scoring after the first came in the eighth. Thornburg singled with one out and went to second on a Morian single. Redshirt junior Austin Fleet (Edmond, Okla./Santa Fe) got out unscathed as he struck out Jake Cox to end the inning. Senior Bobby Gagg (Hamburg, N.J./Wallkill) then came on in the ninth and struck out Dolan looking to end the game.   Meo earned his eighth win of the season, pitching five innings and allowing two hits, a run with seven strikeouts. Fleet struck out three in three innings and Gagg had two strikeouts for his fourth save of the season. The loss went to Charlie McCready, who allowed eight hits and two earned runs in 4.1 innings. Reliever Brandon Roberts struck out five in 3.2 innings for the Bucs.   Rice was 3-for-4 with two of the three runs-batted-in for the Chants. Woodward added two hits. For Charleston Southern, Meier was 2-for-4 with a run scored.   Coastal Carolina honored seniors Anderson, Gagg, Tyler Bortnick (Mentor, Ohio/Mentor), Kent Altman (Conway, S.C./Conway), Dustin King (Myrtle Beach, S.C./Carolina Forest) and Adam Dexter (Palo Alto, Calif./Palo Alto) before today’s game.   Both Coastal Carolina and Charleston Southern will be in the 2009 Royal Purple Big South Baseball Championships this week in Asheville, N.C. Charleston Southern will play at a time to be determined on Tuesday. Coastal Carolina is the top seed and will play Wednesday, May 20 at 11 a.m., in McCormick Field.