CONWAY, S.C. – Coastal Carolina's offense hit four home runs and the pitching staff struck out 14 Georgia State hitters, however, it wasn't enough as the Panthers scored four runs in the top of the ninth inning to steal a 7-6 come-from-behind win over the Chanticleers in Saturday Sun Belt Conference action at Springs Brooks Stadium.
The loss dropped Coastal to 16-12-1 overall and 5-5-1 in Sun Belt play, while the Panthers extended their winning streak to eight-straight games and moved to 21-10 overall and 9-2 in league play with the victory.
The Chanticleers took a 6-3 lead into the ninth inning and were three outs away from evening the series at one game apiece, but the Panthers had other plans.
GSU's designated hitter Luke Boynton led off the inning with a solo home run to right field to cut the Chants' lead to 6-4. Following a single and a CCU pitching change, Max Ryerson doubled to the left-center field gap to plate another run and close the gap to 6-5.
After a walk, fielder's choice, stolen base, and strikeout put runners on second and third with two outs, Georgia State lead-off hitter DeAngelo Abboud was able to fight off an inside pitch and get it past a diving
Eric Brown at shortstop to score what would prove to be the game-tying and winning runs.
Coastal's offense blasted a season-high four home runs from four different Chants in
Graham Brown (2-for-3, HR, SF, 3 RBIs, run),
Matt McDermott (1-for-4, HR, RBI, run),
Eric Brown (2-for-5, HR, 2B, RBI, run), and
Tyler Johnson (1-for-5, HR, RBI, run).
For the Panthers, Cameron Jones (1-for-3, HR, HBP, run) had a three-run home run, while Boynton (1-for-3, HR, BB, RBI, run, SB) added a solo shot. Abboud (2-for-3, BB, 2 RBIs, run, SB) had the game-winning RBI, while Ryerson (1-for-4, 2B, RBI) had an RBI in the ninth inning.
The CCU pitching staff struck out 14 batters over the nine-inning contest, compared to just three walks, and held the Panthers to just two hits over the first eight innings.
Suffering the loss was super senior
Reece Maniscalco (0-1), as he gave up two runs on two hits, a walk, and two strikeouts in the ninth inning, while not factoring in the decision was starter
Michael Knorr who gave up three runs on one hit, a three-run home run, two walks, four hit batters, and nine strikeouts over 5.2 innings pitched.
Georgia State's bullpen picked up its second win of the series, as Duncan Lutz (2-0) pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning, while Ryan Watson (6) earned his team-leading sixth save of the season with a clean ninth frame.
Coastal started the home run parade in the bottom of the second inning on a
Graham Brown two-run home run to left field, his second dinger of the season, to put the home team in pinstripes up 2-0 early.
The Panthers continued the home run surge with a three-run home run from Jones in the top of the third inning, the first hit of the game for the visitors, to take a 3-2 lead midway through the third inning.
CCU tied the game up at 3-3 on a sacrifice fly off the bat of
Graham Brown in the bottom of the fourth and then went back to the long ball in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of solo shots to left field from McDermott and
Eric Brown to pull back in front by two at 5-3.
Knorr handed the ball over to
Elliot Carney in the top of the sixth, who got a foul ball out to left field to that inning, threw a 1-2-3 seventh, and pitched around a lead-off single in the eighth with the help of catcher
Kameron Guangorena who threw out a would-be base stealer to end the inning.
Again, the Chants used the long ball, this time in the bottom of the seventh on a solo home run to the opposite field by Johnson, to take a 6-3 lead into the final two innings.
While the two teams combined to commit eight errors on Friday night, both teams were error-free on Saturday. However, the two squads combined to leave 11 runners on base on Saturday, including seven by Coastal and four from Georgia State.
Coastal will look to avoid the three-game conference series sweep to the Georgia State Panthers tomorrow at 1 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.
