CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina and Rutgers combined for 25 runs on 30 base hits on Friday night, as the Chanticleers outscored the visiting Scarlet Knights 15-10 in game two of the Carolinas Coastline Classic at Springs Brooks Stadium.
With the win, CCU improved to 4-1 on the year, while the loss was the first of the season for Rutgers, which falls to 3-1.
Coastal's offense exploded on Friday night, as the Chants had nine guys with at least one base hit and six guys with two base hits each in the win. The home team in black and pinstripes scored in each of the first six innings, including putting up a five-spot in the sixth.
Leading the way was junior
Dale Thomas (2-for-3, 2 HR, 2 BB, 3 RBIs, 4 runs) with two home runs and three RBIs, while junior
Eric Brown (2-for-3, HR, BB, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) hit his first home run of the season and also drove in three RBIs.
Super senior
Matt McDermott (2-for-4, 3 RBIs, run, 2 SB) matched his fellow infield mates with three RBIs, while fellow
transfer
Christopher Rowan, Jr. (1-for-3, 2B, RBI, run) and junior
Cooper Weiss (0-for-1, SF, Sac bunt, RBI) each drove in a run in the win.
The Scarlet Knights matched CCU with 15 base knocks led by designated hitter Evan Sleight's (3-for-4, SF, 3 RBIs, run) game-high three hits and three RBIs, while catcher Nick Cimillo (2-for-4, HR, RBI, run) reached base three times and hit a monster home run in the second inning.
The win went to redshirt freshman
Riley Eikhoff (1-0), as he picked up his first collegiate career win by allowing one run on six hits over 2.0 innings out of the bullpen.
Rutgers' starter Brian Fitzpatrick (0-1) took the loss, as the tall lefty gave up six runs on six hits, two walks, and two strikeouts over 2.0 innings on the mound.
Rutgers set the tone early with a lead-off double and an RBI-single in the first two batters of the game to go up 1-0 after just one-half inning of play.
However, Coastal needed just two batters to hop past the Scarlet Knights and take a 2-1 lead on an
Austin White lead-off single and then a two-run blast over the left-field wall by Thomas.
The scoring trend continued in the second frame, as Rutgers got a lead-off home run from Cimillo and then strung together three consecutive singles to retake the lead at 3-2 midway through the second.
Coastal would tie the game up at 3-3 in the bottom half of the inning on Thomas' second home run of the game, this time a solo shot to left-center field. With his two home runs, Thomas became the first Chanticleer this season to hit multiple home runs in the same game after CCU did it six times last season, including once by Thomas on May 9, 2021, versus Troy.
Both teams pushed across two more runs in the third inning, CCU's coming on an RBI-double off the 20-foot batter's eye from Rowan, Jr., and a sacrifice fly by Weiss to send the game to the fourth inning with the Chants holding on to a 6-5 lead.
After Eikhoff pitched around two base hits in the fourth, the Chants continued their scoring ways as Brown belted a two-run home run into the night over the left-field wall in the bottom half of the inning to extend the home team's lead to three at 8-5.
Rutgers got one run back in the top of the fifth on a Sleight RBI-single up the middle but the CCU bats could not be slowed down, as the home team plated five runs in the bottom half of the inning on a pair of two-run singles from McDermott and
Nick Lucky, as well as a sacrifice fly by Brown to run out to a 13-6 lead with four innings to play.
The Scarlet Knights continued to fight, as the visitors in red recorded back-to-back RBI-doubles and added a sacrifice fly later in the inning on a leaping grab at the wall by Lucky in left field to hang around and trim the Chants' lead to four at 13-9 midway through the sixth inning.
The home team added two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth with the help of a hit-by-pitch, a wild pitch, and two singles, including another RBI-base hit by McDermott to take a 15-9 lead.
The bullpen settled down for the Chanticleers over the final three innings, as
John Kelly (1.2 IP, run, K) and
Jacob Maton (2.0 IP, BB, 3 K) combined to hold Rutgers hitless and allow just one unearned run on one walk, one hit batter, and four strikeouts over the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to seal the 15-10 win.
The Coastal defense turned two more double plays on the night, giving the Chants seven twin killings on the season.
CCU stranded four runners on base, while the Scarlet Knights left nine on base.
Both teams had five extra-base hits and two sacrifice flies, while Coastal was 5-for-6 in the stolen base department compared to the Knights 0-for-1.
Coastal will play tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET versus Illinois (2-2) on day two of the Carolinas Coastline Classic. The game will follow two other contests, as Ball State will take on Middle Tennessee at 10 a.m. ET and Illinois will do battle with Middle Tennessee at 2 p.m. ET.
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.
