CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina and ULM combined for 34 runs on 34 hits in a 17-17 tie on Sunday afternoon at Springs Brooks Stadium. The game was called after eight innings due to an agreed-upon drop-dead time of 3 p.m. ET due to travel plans for the visiting Warhawks.
 
With the draw, the two teams split the Sun Belt Conference series at 1-1-1 overall.
 
CCU moved to 11-7-1 overall and 1-1-1 in Sun Belt play, while ULM finished the weekend at 5-12-1 overall and 1-1-1 in league action.
 
The last tie that the Chanticleers had come back in 2019, as CCU was knotted up with then-No. 1 Oregon State 4-4 after 11-innings when the time limit rule came into play at the Seattle Baseball Showcase.
 
Four different Chants had multiple RBIs for the game led by super senior Matt McDermott (3-for-4, HR, SF, 4 RBIs, 2 runs) team-high four RBIs, while juniors Zack Beach (3-for-4, HR, HBP, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) and Tanner Garrison (3-for-4, HBP, 3 RBIs, 3 runs) had three RBIs apiece. Junior shortstop Eric Brown (3-for-6, 2B, 2 RBIs, 2 runs) finished his day at the plate with three hits and two RBIs in the tie.
 
The Warhawks also had four players with multiple RBIs highlighted by first-baseman Michelle Artzberger (2-for-6, 2 HR, 6 RBIs, 2 runs) and his two three-run home runs for the game. Five other Warhawks had two hits or more over the eight-inning contest.
 
Neither pitching staff was good on Sunday, as the Chants allowed 12 earned runs on 15 hits, seven walks, and eight strikeouts, while ULM's arms gave up 16 earned runs on 19 hits, three walks, and five strikeouts in eight innings.
 
ULM opened the game with a five-run first inning, highlighted by a three-run home run from Artzberger, to take a 5-0 lead midway through the first inning.
 
Coastal got one run back in the bottom of the first inning on an error on a routine fly ball to left field and then a sacrifice fly to put the Chants down four at 5-1 heading into the second inning.
 
The scoring continued, as the Warhawks took an 8-1 lead on a sacrifice fly, a passed ball with the bases loaded, and a hit-by-pitch with, again, with the bases loaded in the top of the second before Coastal pushed across five runs in the bottom half of the inning on a lead-off double from Cooper Weiss, a two-run home run from Beach, an RBI-double off the left-center field wall by Tyler Johnson, and then a two-run home run to left field off the bat of McDermott to cut the ULM lead to two at 8-6 only two innings into the contest.
 
Neither team would give in, as ULM added two more runs in the top of the third inning on an RBI triple and a sacrifice fly, only to see Coastal match the Warhawks with two runs of its own on a McDermott sacrifice fly and an Austin White fielder's choice ground out and ULM error.
 
After Reece Maniscalco pitched a clean fourth, the Chants' offense posted a four-run fourth inning to take a 12-10 lead, its first of the game.
 
Senior outfield Nick Lucky led off the inning with a single to center. After Dale Thomas was hit by a pitch in the helmet, which forced him to leave the game, Weiss singled to right-center field to load the bases.
 
Following a passed ball which allowed Lucky to race in from third, Beach single to left field to plate freshman Orlando Pena to tie the game up at 10-10.
 
Garrison followed with an RBI single to third base on a check swing to put the home team in front at 11-10, while two batters later McDermott lined a single to right field to score Garrison and put the Chants on top 12-10.
 
However, in the top of the fifth inning ULM struck again, as an error on a pop-up behind first base kept the inning alive for the Warhawks. The next hitter was Artzberter who hit his second three-run home run of the game, this one to right-center field, to give the lead back to the Warhawks at 13-12 midway through the fifth.
 
Neither team would score until the seventh inning, as ULM pushed across four more runs on an RBI-double from Landon Cato, a throwing error from Coastal, a sacrifice bunt and safety squeeze play, and an RBI-single by Caleb Sterling to take a 17-12 lead.
 
Down but not out, the Chanticleers scored four runs of their own in the bottom of the seventh inning on an RBI-double by Brown, an RBI-single from Pena, his first career RBI and base hit, and a two-run single by Garrison to cut the ULM lead back to one at 17-13 with two innings to play.
 
With time ticking down on the 3 p.m. ET deadline, CCU's Luke Barrow pitched around a one-out walk in the top of the eighth to keep the game alive for the Chanticleers.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, White lined a one-out single to right-center field and then quickly swiped second to put the tying run in scoring position. Brown then hit a line drive to right field that landed in front of the oncoming ULM outfielder to score White from second to tie the game up at 17-17. However, on the play, Brown was caught in no man's land and tagged out by the first baseman who cut off the throw from the outfield to get out number two in the inning.
 
Lucky kept the inning alive with a two-out walk, however, ULM's Lucas Wepf struck out the next Coastal hitter to end the game in a 17-17 draw as time had expired.
 
Both teams made multiple errors in the field on the day, with ULM taking advantage with five unearned runs and Coastal with one.
 
The Chanticleers left eight runners on base, while the Warhawks stranded nine.
 
Coastal will kick-off an eight-game road trip on Tuesday night, March 22, at Clemson. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. ET from Doug Kingsmore Stadium.

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