CONWAY, S.C. – For the third straight game, Coastal Carolina picked up a solid start from the starting pitcher, and the offense used two more home runs to down the Rider Broncs 13-5 in an elimination game on Sunday afternoon at the NCAA Conway Regional.
 
Coastal (41-20) will now face the No. 2-seeded Duke Blue Devils at 6 p.m. ET.
 
The Chants got a career outing from super senior Jack Billings (4-0), as the right-handed pitcher threw a career-high 7.1 innings and 99 pitches. He held Rider to five runs on five hits, one walk, and four strikeouts in the victory.
 
Billings sent the first 18 hitters down in order to start the game and took a perfect game into the bottom of the seventh inning when the Rider lead-off hitter lined a ball just over the outstretched arm of a leaping Zack Beach at first base to break up the no-hit bid.
 
The loss fell to Rider's Dylan Heine (4-4), as the starter was roughed up for seven runs on 10 hits, one walk, and two strikeouts over 3.1 innings of work.
 
Offensively, the Chants had nine different players record a hit in the win, led by career days from transfers Payton Eeles (3-for-5, HR, SF, 5 RBIs, 2 runs) and Chad Born (3-for-4, 2B, SF, 4 RBIS, 3 runs), who combined to drive in nine of the 13 RBIs.
 
CCU freshman Caden Bodine (2-for-4, HR, 2 RBIs, run) stayed hot with a home run, while fellow first-year Chant Dean Mihos (2-for-3, 2 sac bunts, 2B, 2 RBIs) had two RBIs in the nine-hole.
 
For the game, the offense hit .444 (16-for-36) overall, .462 (6-for-13) with runners in scoring position, and .476 (10-for-21) with runners on base for the game.
 
The Broncs had seven base hits on the day, all coming in the final three innings. Lead-off hitter John Volpe (2-for-4, 2B, RBI, 2 runs), who broke up the no-hitter in the seventh inning, had two base hits, while Scott Shaw (1-for-4, 2B, 2 RBIs, run) drove in two RBIs in the loss.
 
Again, serving as the visitors in their own ballpark, the Chanticleers jumped out to an early 5-0 lead with a big inning in the top of the second inning.
 
The Chants got the inning going with a lead-off walk and back-to-back bunt singles to load the bases for Born, who ripped a ball into left-center field for a two-run single to put the Men in Black on top 2-0 early.
 
The inning continued with a sacrifice bunt from Mihos to put runners on second and third with one out and the top of the order due up.
 
Lead-off hitter Eeles hit a 2-1 pitch on to the boardwalk behind the right-field wall for a three-run home run, his fourth long ball of the season, to extend the lead to 5-0 midway through the second inning of play.
 
Coastal added to the lead in the top of the fourth inning with another big frame, as Born led off the inning with a double down the left-field line and was moved up 90 feet to third base on another sacrifice bunt from Mihos.
 
Eeles drove in his fourth RBI of the game with an RBI single to center field to push the lead to 4-0 before Bodine lined a two-run home run into the Rider bullpen in right field for his 11th home run of the season to extend the lead to 8-0 halfway through the fourth inning.
 
Rider put its first base runner on base in the bottom of the seventh inning with a lead-off single and got on the scoreboard with a two-out RBI single off the bat of Scorates Bardatsos to put the score at 8-1 with two innings to play in the contest.
 
The Chanticleers got the run back and then one in the top of the eighth inning, as Born lined an RBI single to right field for his third RBI of the game, while two batters later Eeles hit a sacrifice fly to center field for his fifth RBI, a new career-high, to give the visitors double-digit runs at 10.
 
The Broncs did not go down without a fight, as the No. 4 seed strung together three straight RBI base hits on an RBI double by Volpe, a two-run double from Shaw, and an RBI single off the bat of Brian Skettini to push across four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to cut the Coastal lead to five at 10-5.
 
CCU took advantage of a hit-by-pitch and back-to-back walks to add to its lead with a sacrifice fly from Born and a two-run double by Mihos off the glove of the leaping right fielder to push the lead out to eight at 13-5 with a half an inning to play.
 
Reliever Davis Tyndall capped the win by pitching around a fielding error and a Rider double in the bottom of the ninth to keep the Chants' season alive.

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