Charleston, S.C. – No. 19 Coastal Carolina fell behind 7-0 early and couldn't overcome the deficit in an 8-5 road loss to the College of Charleston at Patriots Point in Mt. Pleasant, S.C. on Wednesday night.
The loss drops the Chanticleers to 7-2 overall, while the win bumps the Cougars up to 7-2 on the season.
Offensively, Coastal again registered double-digit hits with 12 base knocks, yet left eight runners stranded on base for the contest.
Lead-off hitter and second baseman
Cory Wood (3-for-5, run) and shortstop
Scott McKeon (3-for-4, run) both had three base hits on the night, while outfielder
Cameron Pearcey (1-for-5, 2B, 3 RBIs, run) had the lone extra-base hit for the Chants with a three-run double in the fifth.
First baseman
Zach Biermann (1-for-5, RBI) and pinch hitter
Jared Johnson (1-for-2, RBI) had the other two RBIs in the loss.
The Cougars offense was hot early as second baseman Dupree Hart (2-for-4, BB, 2 RBIs, run, 2 SB) and catcher Danny Wondrack (1-for-4, HR, 2 RBIs, run) combined to drive in four runs in the win, while Bradley Dixon (0-for-5, RBI) and Logan McRae (2-for-4, RBI, 2 runs) recorded the other two RBIs.
Making his first start on the mound since 2016, redshirt-senior
Bobby Holmes (0-1) was saddled with the loss, allowing five runs on five hits, a walk and one strikeout over 1.1 innings.
Left-handed pitcher
Trevor Damron closed out the game with four strikeouts over 3.0-hitless innings to keep the Chanticleers in the game down the stretch.
The win went to the Cougars Steven Cook (3-0), as the righty allowed one unearned run on two hits and a strikeout over 1.1 innings out of the bullpen.
Charleston jumped out to an early lead in the first inning, as the home-standing Cougars used a lead-off walk, two stolen bases and a two-out RBI single to take a 1-0 lead. The fifth batter to hit in the first, hit a two-run home run to left field to push the Cougars in front 3-0 after just one inning of play.
The Cougars used an RBI single and an RBI fielder's choice ground out in the bottom of the second to extend its lead to 5-0.
After Coastal stranded two in the top of the third, the Cougars added two more runs on a hit, two walks, a wild pitch and a Chants fielding error in the bottom of the inning to increase its lead to 7-0.
The Chants bats came alive in the top of the fifth, as
Mike Koenig, McKeon and Wood hit back-to-back-to-back singles to load the bases with two outs before Pearcey laced a double into the left-center field gap to clear the bases and put the Chants down four at 7-3.
Biermann followed with an RBI single to right to plate Pearcey and trim the Charleston lead to three at 7-4 midway through the contest.
Charleston pushed its lead back out to four at 8-4 on a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the fifth, yet the Chants got the run back in the top of the sixth on a Johnson pinch-hit RBI single to get the visitors back within three at 8-5 midway through the sixth inning.
Damron allowed just one runner on base over the final three innings, however, the Chants couldn't get the big hit to push across a run, stranding four runners combined over the seventh, eighth and ninth innings in the three-run loss.
Coastal (7-2) returns home to host the CCU Baseball Tournament this weekend March 1-4. The Chants will take on No. 25 Illinois on Friday at 5:30 p.m. ET, host UConn on Saturday at 2 p.m. and then play Indiana on Sunday at noon.
For complete coverage of CCU baseball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalBaseball (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUsports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.
