CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers took a perfect game into the eighth inning and had a no-hitter up until the ninth inning in a 4-3 win over the No. 30 nationally-ranked Wake Forest Demon Deacons on Tuesday night at Springs Brooks Stadium.
The win was the eighth-straight for Coastal over Wake Forest, snapped the Chanticleers' losing skid at four consecutive games, and pushed the men in teal to 8-5 overall on the season. The loss was the first for the Demon Deacons this season, dropping the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) member to 11-1 on the year.
The Coastal Carolina pitching staff held the Wake Forest offense, which entered the game ranked first in the nation in batting average (.381), second nationally in both hits (151) and home runs (27), and third overall in runs scored (134), hitless for the first eight innings of the midweek contest.
CCU's
Riley Eikhoff (2.0 IP, K),
Matt Joyce (4.0 IP, 2 K),
Jacob Maton (2.0 IP, 2 BB, K), and
Jack Billings (1.0 IP, 3 H, 3 R, BB, K) combined to hold the Demon Deacons to just three runs on three hits, with Joyce (3-0) earning the win out of the bullpen.
The pitching had some help defensively, as the Chanticleers turned two double plays, including a big one with one runner on base and no outs in the eighth and the second one with two runners on and no outs in the top of the ninth.
Offensively, senior
Nick Lucky (2-for-3, BB, run) and super senior
Matt McDermott (2-for-4, 3B, RBI, run) each had two base hits on the night, while super senior
Austin White (1-for-5, RBI) added an RBI-single in the sixth to give him a team-high 14 RBIs on the season.
Wake Forest's offense, which all came in the ninth inning, had three base hits led by outfielder Adam Cecere (1-for-3, 2 RBIs) and his two-run single in the final inning.
The Chanticleers scored one run in both the second and third innings, both on a hit batter with the bases loaded, to take a 2-0 lead into the fourth inning.
While the pitchers kept mowing down the Deacs' offense, Coastal added to its lead in the bottom of the sixth on a McDermott triple and a White RBI-single over the drawn-in infield to extend the lead to 3-0 after six innings of play.
After CCU pitched another 1-2-3 inning in the top of the seventh, their seventh of the game, the Demon Deacons would get their first base runner in the top of the eighth on a lead-off walk to start the inning.
However, a 6-4-3 double play, in which the Wake Forest runner was called out due to runner's interference, and a line-out to Brown at shortstop following a second walk in the inning kept the no-hitter intact with just three outs to go.
CCU added an insurance run in the bottom half of the eighth inning, which proved to be vital, as
Graham Brown led off the inning with a single through the left side and then advanced up to second on a sacrifice bunt. After moving up 90-feet to third base on a passed ball, McDermott singled to the third base to drive in Brown and put the Chants up 4-0 heading to the ninth.
The no-hitter was broken up with back-to-back singles to start the top of the ninth and put runners on first and second with no outs.
Following a 6-3 double play to get two outs in the inning, the Deacs drew a walk and was allowed to move up to second on defense indifference to put two runners in scoring position with two outs.
A high-chopper in the infield was misplayed to keep the inning and game alive, but also allowed the visitors to get on the scoreboard at 4-1.
After defense indifference allowed the runner to move up to second without an attempt to get him out put runners on second and third, Cecere singled to right field to drive in both runners and trim the Chants' lead to one at 4-3.
Two batters later, after hitting a batter to put the go-ahead run on first, Billings came up with a big strikeout on a 3-2 pitch to Danny Corona to preserve the 4-3 win for the Chants.
The Chanticleers left nine runners on base compared to the Demon Deacons' three.
Coastal will stay at home to host the Xavier Musketeers (3-9) for four games this weekend, March 11-13, with Friday's series opener set for 4 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.
