CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina held the Xavier Musketeers to just four runs in each game of a doubleheader on Sunday to complete the twin-bill sweep of the Musketeers to take the series win. The Chanticleers used two home runs to win game one 6-4 and then struck out 14 hitters in game two in an 8-4 victory.
 
With the Sunday sweep, CCU moved to 10-6 on the season. The two losses dropped Xavier to 5-11 on the year.
 
Game 1 – Coastal Carolina 6, Xavier 4 (7 Innings)
 
The Chanticleers overcame a 3-0 first-inning deficit to defeat the Musketeers 6-4 in seven innings in game one of the twin tilts.
 
The duo of Reid VanScoter (2-1) and Riley Eikhoff (1) picked up the win and the save, respectively, as the two pitchers held Xavier to just four runs on nine hits in the victory. VanScoter earned his second win of the season by allowing four runs on nine hits, four walks, and four strikeouts over 5.2 innings in the start, while Eikhoff picked up his first career save with two strikeouts over 1.1-scoreless innings.
 
Xavier starter George Eisenhardt (1-3) suffered the loss, as he gave up four runs, three of which were earned, on two hits, three walks, and one strikeout in just 2.1 innings on the mound.
 
The CCU offense was led by the junior duo of Dale Thomas (1-for-3, HR, 2 RBIs, run) and Tanner Garrison (1-for-1, HR, RBI, run) as each hit a home run in the win, while senior Nick Lucky (1-for-3, RBI) drove in the other RBI.
 
The Musketeers, who left 10 runners on base in the loss, were led offensively by Grant Stephenson (1-for-4, 2 RBIs) with two RBIs, while both Garrett Schultz (2-for-4) and Jerry Huntzinger (2-for-4) had two hits apiece.
 
Xavier struck first in the top of the first, as two walks and a double set up a two-run single by Stephenson to put the visitors in front 2-0 early.
 
After the Musketeers took a 3-0 lead in the first on a double steal, the Chanticleers got a run back in the bottom half of the inning on a pair of errors to cut the Xavier lead to two at 3-1.
 
Both teams would strand two runners on base in the second inning before the Chanticleers took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the third on a double steal, in which Eric Brown stole second and Austin White raced home, and then a two-run home run off the foul pole on the left-field line by Thomas to put the home team in front at 4-3. The home run was Thomas' team-leading sixth of the season.
 
In front for the first time in the shortened contest, Coastal added to its lead with an RBI-single from Lucky in the fourth inning, only to see the Musketeers plate a run in the top of the sixth inning on a two-out RBI-single from Andrew Walker to cut the Chants' lead to one at 5-4.
 
Garrison, who entered the game to catch in the top half of the inning, provided an insurance run in the bottom half of the frame by way of a solo home run to deep left field to push the Chants' lead to two at 6-4 with one inning to play.
 
Eikhoff pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to seal the two-run game one win for the Chants.
 
Game 2 – Coastal Carolina 8, Xavier 4
 
In game two of the twin bill, the Chanticleers' pitching staff struck out 14 Xavier hitters, the second-most strikeouts in a game this season for the Chants, in an 8-4 win.
 
Leading the charge was Elliot Carney (1-0), who fanned 10 hitters over 4.1 innings out of the bullpen for the Chants. He gave up three runs on three hits and walked three in his first win as a Chanticleer.
 
Again, Xavier's starter was saddled with the loss, as Bryce Barnett (0-3) was hit up for five runs on four hits, one walk, and three strikeouts over 3.0 innings, as Coastal scored at least one run in each of the first three innings of the contest.
 
Six different Chants registered a hit in the game two win, led by Jake Gitter (1-for-3, 2B, SF, 3 RBIs), Graham Brown (1-for-3, 2B, BB, RBI, run), Lucky (1-for-3, 2B, BB, run), and Thomas (1-for-2, 3B, 2 BB, RBI, run) who all had one extra-base hit for the contest, while Matt McDermott (1-for4, HR, RBI, run) hit his first home run as a Chant in the win.
 
Xavier had eight hits for the second game, as Stephenson (2-for-4), Lane Flamm (2-for-4), and Matthew Deprey (2-for-4, HR, RBI, 2 runs) each had two hits apiece with Deprey hitting a home run.
 
Coastal jumped out to an early lead in game two, as the Chants took advantage of two Xavier errors and a Lucky double to plate one run in the bottom of the first and then added another run in the bottom of the second on the McDermott solo home run to left field.
 
After the Musketeers got on the scoreboard with a Deprey solo home run in the top of the third, the Chants used a three-run frame in the bottom half of the inning on back-to-back two-out, run-scoring doubles from Graham Brown and Gitter to take a 5-1 lead into the fourth inning.
 
Over the fourth, fifth, and sixth innings, Carney struck out eight Xavier hitters, including the side in both the fourth and fifth innings to keep the Musketeers' offense off guard going into the seventh inning.
 
The Musketeers got to the bullpen in the top of the seventh, plating three runs highlighted by a Luke Franzoni two-run single to center field to put the visitors down just one at 5-4 at the seventh-inning stretch.
 
The Chanticleers got all three runs back in the bottom half of the inning, as Eric Brown had an RBI-single to right field to plate White who was hit by a pitch to start the inning.
 
A walk and three wild pitches later, Eric Brown scored from third to put the home team in front by three at 7-4. Four batters later, Gitter hit a deep fly ball to center field to score Lucky from third to double up the Musketeers at 8-4 with two innings to play.
 
Jacob Maton (1.2 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 1 BB, 2 K) pitched around a lead-off single and a walk to strike out the final two batters in the inning in the eighth, while Teddy Sharkey (1.0 IP, 1 K) pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to finish off the doubleheader sweep.
 
Coastal stranded six runners compared to the Musketeers' eight but did not make an error while Xavier committed four in the second game of the day.
 
Coastal will hit the road to take on NC State (9-6) on Wednesday, March 16, at 7 p.m. ET. The game will air on the ACC Network.
 
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.