CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina softball team opened up Sun Belt Conference play with 7-4 victory over the Troy Trojans on Friday night at St. John Stadium.

With the victory, head coach Kelley Green tallied her 800th career win and the Chanticleers improved to 18-8, 1-0 Sun Belt.

Troy was first to strike in the top of the second inning when Anslee Finch belted a solo home run over the left field wall to give the Trojans a 1-0 lead.

The Chants answered back in the bottom of the second inning after a walk and a hit-by-pitch put runners on first and second base. Maddy Jennings then stepped up to the plate and crushed a three-run bomb over the left-field wall to put the Chants ahead 3-1.

The Trojans responded in the top of the third inning when Taylor McKinney laced an RBI single through the left side to narrow the gap to 3-2.

In the top of the fourth inning, Troy levelled the score at 3-3 after D'Aun Riggs reached on a single and then went on to cross home plate on a wild pitch.

Coastal's bats got hot in the bottom of the fifth inning when Brie Normandin and Libby Pippin each cracked singles while Georgia Hood walked to load the bases. That set the stage for Riley Zana who smashed her second grand slam home run of the season to push the Chants ahead at 7-3.

The Trojans tacked on one more run in the top of the sixth inning when Finch struck her second home run of game to make the score 7-4 but it was not enough to pull of the comeback.

Nicolette Picone (3-4) earned her third win in the circle, giving up two runs. The junior struck out the final two batters to give the Chants the wins.

The Chanticleers will return to St. John Stadium tomorrow to play the second game of the series versus the Trojans at 2 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.