CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina gave head coach
Gary Gilmore his 1,000th career win at his alma mater in a walk-off, 10-run rule, seven-inning 12-2 win over the Texas State Bobcats on Saturday afternoon at Springs Brooks Stadium in the 2021 regular-season finale.
The win completed the three-game sweep of the Bobcats, the Chants' lone Sun Belt Conference series sweep of the season.
With the win, the Chanticleers closed out the regular-season slate on a four-game winning streak, their second-longest of the season and the longest since winning six consecutive games from Feb. 23 to March 6.
Junior
Nick Lucky (3-for-5, 2 HR, 2 BB, 5 RBIs, 4 runs, SB) provided the offense for the Chants, as he hit a career-high two home runs and drove in a career-high five RBIs in the double-digit win. With his two home runs on the day, Lucky became the fourth Chant to hit two home runs in the same game this season joining
Tanner Garrison (vs. UConn, March 8),
BT Riopelle (vs. FIU, March 12), and
Dale Thomas (vs. Troy, May 9).
Redshirt junior
Parker Chavers (2-for-4, 3 RBIs, run, 2 SB) drove in three RBIs, while sophomore
Dale Thomas (1-for-2, SAC, 2 RBIs, run) had two RBIs in the win.
The Bobcats had seven hits on the day, however, all of them were singles. Catcher Tucker Redden (2-for-2, SAC, run) had two base hits, while Will Hollis (1-for-4, RBI) and Chase Evans (1-for-2, SF, RBI) each had an RBI in the loss.
CCU freshman hurler
Hunter Sibley (1-0) picked up his first career collegiate win, as the right-hander struck out two batters in a scoreless fourth inning.
The loss fell to Texas State starter Tony Robie (0-2), as the righty was roughed up for five runs, four of which were earned, on four hits, five walks, and two strikeouts over 3.1 innings on the mound.
Both teams got on the scoreboard in the third inning, as the Bobcats scored first in the top half of the inning on a two-out walk, throwing error, and a Hollis RBI single to right field to take a 1-0 lead.
The Chants answered in the bottom half of the inning on a Lucky walk and stolen base, and an RBI single from Chavers to tie the game up at 1-1 after three innings played.
After Sibley pitched around two hits and a hit batter to leave the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, the offense went to small-ball in the bottom half of the innings as the Chants scored two runs on a walk, a throwing error on a sacrifice bunt, and back-to-back RBI infield hits to push the home team in front by two at 3-1.
The inning continued with another sacrifice bunt before Lucky hit the first ball out of the infield in the inning 415-feet to right field for a three-run home run to cap the five-run inning and put the Chants on top 6-1 heading into the fifth inning of play.
Texas State got one run back in the top of the sixth on a sacrifice fly, however, the Chants' bats stayed hot in the bottom half of the inning as Chavers and Thomas both picked up two-run singles with the bases loaded to extend the lead to 10-2 through six innings.
Lucky would provide the knock-out punch in the bottom of the seventh, as he ended the game with a two-run home run to right field to put the final score at 12-2. The two home runs were numbers five and six on the season for the Pennsylvania native.
Coastal (26-23, 9-12 Sun Belt) will be the No. 6 seed out of the East Division and will open up the 2021 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship Tournament on Tuesday, May 25, at 10 a.m. ET/9 a.m. CT versus the No. 4 Little Rokc out of the West Division as part of Pool A in Montgomery, Ala. South Alabama is the No. 1 overall seed from the East and will also be in Pool A.
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.
