MOBILE, Ala. – Behind 3.2-hitless innings down the stretch from junior pitcher
Teddy Sharkey, the No. 8 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers picked up an 8-7 extra-inning win over the South Alabama Jaguars on a two-out RBI single from super senior
Payton Eeles in the 10th inning on Friday night to take a 1-0 series lead in Mobile, Ala.
CCU improved to 5-0 on the season in extra-inning games with the 10-inning road win.
With the eight runs in the win, CCU improved to 27-5 on the season when scoring six runs or more for the game.
After the Jaguars scored three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to tie the game at 7-7, Sharkey entered the contest and immediately struck out two hitters with the bases loaded to get the Chanticleers out of the jam.
Sharkey threw a 1-2-3 eighth inning and pitched around a walk and a hit batter in the ninth frame to keep the game tied at 7-7 heading into extra innings.
In the top of the 10th inning,
Zack Beach drew a lead-off walk and was quickly moved up to second base on a sacrifice bunt by pinch-hitter
Chase Hudson.
Two batters later,
Blake Barthol worked a walk to put runners on first and second with one out.
Following a strikeout, Eeles stepped to the plate and laced a two-out single up the middle to drive in a sliding Beach at home and put the Chanticleers in front 8-7.
Sharkey did the rest, as the junior got back-to-back ground outs and then struck out the final USA hitter in the game to seal the 8-7 road win for the Men in Teal.
Sharkey (7-1) picked up his team-leading seventh win of the season by striking out five hitters over 3.2-scoreless innings out of the bullpen. He walked one, hit another one but did not allow a hit.
The loss went to USA's Grant Wood (4-3), as the righty was solid out of the bullpen for the Jaguars but gave up the winning run on one hit, two walks, and three strikeouts over 3.0 innings of work.
Coastal's offense had eight runs on 12 hits, highlighted by three base hits each from Eeles (3-for-5, 2B, BB, 2 RBIs, run, SB) and designated hitter
Derek Bender (3-for-5, RBI, run). Freshman catcher
Caden Bodine (2-for-4, HR, 2B, BB, RBI, 2 runs) had two extra-base hits on the night with a solo home run and a double, while fellow first-year Chant
Dean Mihos (1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBIs, run) drove in two RBIs in the win.
Six of the Chants' eight RBIs came with two outs.
For the Jaguars offensively, the home team stranded 12 runners on base and scored seven runs on just eight hits, led by Micah Morgan (2-for-5, 3 RBIs, run) with a game-high three RBIs and a solo home run from Joseph Sullivan (2-for-6, HR, RBI, run).
On defense, the Chants turned one double play, an inning-ending twin killing in the sixth inning, to give them 48 double plays on the season.
After what started out as a pitcher's duel over the first two innings, the home-standing Jaguars got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning on a hit-by-pitch, back-to-back singles, and an error in the outfield to go up 2-0 heading into the fourth inning of play.
Coastal quickly got the two runs back and then some in the next half inning, as the Chants opened the top of the fourth inning with a walk and back-to-back singles of their own to load the bases.
Following a sacrifice fly from Beach, which got the Chants on the scoreboard, two batters later, Barthol hit a two-out single through the right side of the infield to plate another run and tied the game up at 2-2.
The Chants were not done, as Mihos ripped a double down the left-field line to drive in two more runs and doubled up the Jaguars at 4-2.
Eeles kept the scoring going with another two-out base hit with a single up the middle to plate Mihos to push the visitor's lead to three at 5-2.
However, the scoring carried over into the bottom of the fourth inning, as the Jaguars scored two more runs on an RBI single by Morgan and a bases-loaded walk to Austin Thrasher to trim the Chants' lead to one at 5-4 after four innings of play.
With one swing of the bat in the top of the fifth inning, Bodine blasted an opposite-field solo home run, his eighth of the season, to extend the lead back to two at 6-4.
Sophomore reliever
Darin Horn (2.2 IP, 4 hits, 3 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K) pitched around back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the fifth inning, which allowed the Men in Teal to add to their lead in the top of the sixth frame on an Eeles lead-off double, a sacrifice bunt by
Graham Brown, and a two-out RBI single from Bender to put the score at 7-4 midway through the sixth inning.
The Jaguars refused to go away, as Sullivan hit a solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to get the offense going again for the home team.
After a Coastal throwing error and back-to-back hit batters loaded the bases for the home team, Morgan lined a single up the middle to score two runs and tie the game up at 7-7.
Looking to retake the lead late in the contest, the Jaguars used a wild pitch and a walk to load the bases for the second time in the inning.
However, this time the Chants' went to Sharkey, who struck out the next two Jaguar hitters to get the visitors out of the jam and keep the game tied at 7-7 heading into the eighth inning.
The Chanticleers stranded nine runners on base compared to the Jaguars' 12.
CCU hit .400 (6-for-15) with two outs, .368 (7-for-19) with runners on base, and .429 (6-for-14) with runners in scoring position in the win.
The Chants (31-17, 18-7 Sun Belt) and South Alabama (23-25, 11-14 Sun Belt) will return to the field for game two of the three-game series tomorrow at 3 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.
