CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina softball team prevailed through rainy conditions to beat the Michigan State Spartans 5-1 on Friday afternoon at St. John Stadium.

The Chants improve to 9-5 on the year while Michigan State falls to 9-10.

CCU got off to a quick start after Riley Zana and Iyanla De Jesus each reached base on walks in the first inning. Sophomore Libby Pippen then blooped a single to right field to drive in the first run of the game to put the Chants up 1-0.

Coastal doubled its lead in the bottom of the second inning after Livi Payne was hit by a pitch and was able to make her way home on a sacrifice bunt, fielders' choice, and a wild pitch to make the score 2-0.

In the bottom of the third inning, Payne belted a leadoff double to left field to get things going for the Chants. Brie Normandin then laid down her second sacrifice bunt of the game to advance pinch runner Ally Wojciechowski to third base. Coastal then pushed across their third run when Delaney Keith knocked an RBI single to the pitcher to give the Chants a 3-0 lead.

The Spartans narrowed the gap to 3-1 in the top of the fourth inning after AJ Militello ripped a leadoff double through the right side and then scored on an RBI single by Payton Conroy.

The Chants answered in the bottom of the fifth inning as Smith and De Jesus bagged two more insurance runs on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly, respectively, to ultimately give CCU the 5-1 win.

Raelee Brabham (6-2) took the win in the circle, giving up one run off eight hits while striking out seven batters.

The Chanticleers will be back in action tomorrow at St. John Stadium as they take on Iona at 4:30 p.m. ET and Oakland at 7 p.m. ET.

For complete coverage of CCU softball, follow the Chanticleers on social media at @CoastalSoftball (Twitter), @GoCCUSports (Instagram), and facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook) or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at goccusports.com.