CONWAY, S.C. – Despite striking out 12 Indiana hitters, the Coastal Carolina baseball team fell 7-2 to the Hoosiers in the second game of the day at the Baseball at the Beach tournament at Springs Brooks Stadium on Saturday.
 
Coastal Carolina (1-1) was not able to capitalize on the two times the Chants had the bases loaded. The CCU pitching staff struck out 12 Hoosiers but allowed eight free passes with five walks and three hit batters on the night.
 
Junior starter Alexander Meckley pitched 4.1 innings, allowing just two runs on three hits while striking out six batters, walking three, and hitting one.
 
The Chanticleer offense was led by Dean Mihos (2-for-4, 2B, 1 RBI), while Graham Brown (1-for-3, 2B, 1 RBI) plated the only other run for the Coastal Carolina.
 
The Hoosier offense bided their time as AJ Shepard (2-for-5, HR) and Tyler Cerny (2-for-4) drove in two runs each with Devin Taylor (2-for-5), Brock Tibbitts (2-for-4), and Brandon Burckel (1-for-4, HR) each tallying one RBI.
 
After allowing a one-out double, Meckley needed just six pitches to get out of the first inning. The Chanticleer offense looked poised to strike first in the bottom of the inning as Coastal loaded the bases with two outs but was not able to capitalize.
 
Both Meckley and Indiana's Connor Foley settled down and pitched shutdown innings in the second and third.
 
The Hoosiers loaded the bases in the top of the fourth before Meckley enticed a groundball by Jake Stadler to get out of trouble. Coastal managed to get a runner to second as Jake Books walked before advancing to second on a wild pitch, where he was stranded.
 
Indiana loaded the bases in the top of the fifth to force the Chants to make a call to the bullpen. A single by Taylor and a Tibbitts sacrifice fly gave the Hoosiers a 2-0 lead. Coastal went quietly in the bottom half of the fifth as IU called Ty Bothwell (1-0) out of the bullpen.
 
The Hoosiers looked to add to their lead in the top of the sixth as they loaded the bases with two outs before CCU recorded the final out of the inning. Coastal Carolina knotted the score up at 2-2 after Derek Bender reached second base on an error by Indiana. Brown hit a double to bring Bender to the plate to cut the deficit in half before Mihos tied the score with a single to left field to score Brown. Coastal was in a position to add more runs with the bases loaded but was held in check.
 
After a scoreless seventh, Indiana took the lead for good as Burckel hit a solo shot to left field off Cameron Flukey (0-1). The Hoosiers added four more for a 7-2 lead in the top of the ninth before Bothwell closed out the game.
 
The Chanticleers return to action on Sunday against the Duke Blue Devils in the finale of the Baseball at the Beach tournament, with the first pitch scheduled for 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.