CONWAY, S.C. – Behind four RBIs from outfielder Graham Brown and the right arms of Jacob Morrison and Darin Horn, the No. 17 nationally-ranked Coastal Carolina Chanticleers defeated the Georgia Southern Eagles 10-4 in the series opener on Thursday night at Springs Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C.
 
The Chants are now 16-0 on the season when scoring double-digit runs for the game.
 
Coastal (19-8, 8-2 Sun Belt) and Georgia Southern (14-16, 5-5 Sun Belt) will play a doubleheader starting tomorrow at noon ET due to inclement weather in the forecast for Saturday, April 8.

The first game is scheduled for noon ET with the second game to follow approximately 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.

Fans who purchased tickets for Friday's game will be honored for both games tomorrow (April 7). Those who purchased tickets for Saturday's game can exchange them for both of Friday's games or any other home game this season except for the midweek game versus Clemson (May 10).

CCU's Morrison (4-0) was superb on the mound for the Chants, as the true freshman hurler threw 5.0-scoreless innings and held the Eagles to just four hits and three walks while striking out seven hitters to pick up the win.

Out of the bullpen, Horn (1) picked up his first save, as the sophomore righty, who was hindered by three Coastal fielding errors, gave up four runs, one of which was earned, on three hits, three walks, and five strikeouts over 4.0-complete innings.
The Eagles starting pitcher Ben Johnson (4-3) was handed the loss, giving up eight runs, four of which were earned, on five hits, four walks, and four strikeouts over 4.1 innings of work.

Brown (2-for-4, HR, 2B, 4 RBIs, 2 runs) led CCU's offensive charge with another multi-hit game and his eighth home run of the season, while both Zack Beach (2-for-3, 2B, BB, RBI, 2 runs) and Chad Born (2-for-4, BB, 2 runs) also finished with two hits apiece.

Contributing to the scoring were Nick Lucky (0-for-4, BB, RBI, run), Payton Eeles (1-for-4, BB, RBI, run, SB), and Orlando Pena (1-for-3, HBP, RBI) with one RBI apiece in the victory.

For the Eagles, lead-off hitter Jesse Sherrill (2-for-5) and nine-hole hitter Sam Blancato (2-for-3, 2B, SF, RBI, run) led the way with two hits each, while joining Blancato with one RBI apiece was Jarrett Brown (0-for-4, BB, RBI), Noah Ledford (0-for-2, 3 BB, RBI), and JP Tighe (1-for-3, BB, RBI, run).

In the field, the two teams combined for five errors that led to a total of seven unearned runs in the game.

Coastal took advantage of the first of two errors for the visiting team in the bottom of the first inning, as back-to-back walks and a passed ball put runners on second and third with two outs for designated hitter Kameron Guangorena. The veteran lefty hit a ground ball to the shortstop, who airmailed the throw over the head of the first baseman to allow two Chants to score and give the home team an early 2-0 lead one inning into the contest.

After Morrison pitched around a lead-off walk in the top of the second inning with the help of two consecutive strikeouts, the Men in Teal added to their lead with "Gilley Ball". Beach started the inning with a single, moved up to second on a sacrifice bunt, and scored on an RBI single from Pena to go up 3-0 heading into the third inning of play.

GS looked to get on the scoreboard in the top of the third when Blancato led off the inning with a double to right-center field and then advanced to third on an error on the Coastal right fielder. The next Eagle hitter hit a fly ball to left field to Born, who came up throwing to the plate to get Blancato at home trying to score on the play to kill the scoring chance and keep the home team on top 3-0.

Brown atoned for his fielding miscue in the bottom half of the inning as he launched his eighth home run of the season over the left-field wall, a two-run shot to push the home team's lead to 5-0.

Morrison continued his command on the mound, striking out the side in the top of the fourth and pitching around two singles in the fifth frame to strand four runners over the two innings to keep the Eagles off the scoreboard.

The offense continued to add to the lead with an RBI ground out by Lucky in the fourth inning, scoring Eeles, who walked, moved up to second on a wild pitch, and then stole third, and plated two more runs in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI double by Beach and a two-out RBI single from Eeles to extend the lead to 8-0 with four innings to play.

Horn entered the game in the top of the sixth and sent the Eagles down in order 1-2-3 by himself with two strikeouts and a ground ball back to the pitcher before Brown struck again in the bottom half of the inning with a two-run double to left-center field to put the Chants on top 10-0.

With the help of a fielding error and back-to-back bases-loaded walks in the top of the seventh inning, the Eagles were able to spoil the shutout bid and scored two runs in the inning and then added two more in the top of the eighth, again with the help of a Coastal fielding mistake, to put the score at 10-4.

However, it was too-little, too-late for the Eagles, as in the top of the ninth, Horn struck out the side to seal the 10-4 win for the home team.

For more information, fans can contact the Chanticleers Athletic Ticket Office during normal business hours, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 5 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.