BOONE, N.C. – The No. 13 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers split a doubleheader with the Appalachian State Mountaineers in Boone, N.C. CCU fell 9-8 in game one before winning 17-11 in 12 innings in game two.
 
With the split, Coastal moved to 18-6 on the year and 3-3 in Sun Belt Conference play, while App State is 15-7 overall and 3-3 in league play.
 
COASTAL 8 – APPALACHIAN STATE 9
In the first game of the day, the Mountaineers took an early 2-0 lead on three singles by Drew Holderbach, Adam Quintero, and Joseph Zamora before CJ Boyd hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Quintero from third.
 
Appalachian State's starter Jackson Steensma held Coastal in check, allowing two hits and no runs with four strikeouts through five innings. In the home half of the fifth, Boyd and Austin St. Laurent singled and scored on a double by Banks Tolley to chase CCU starter Riley Eikhoff (4.2 IP, 7H, 5R, BB 5K). App's Braxton Church singled down the left-field line to make the score 5-0 for the Mountaineers.
 
Coastal answered with a pair of runs in the top of the sixth inning as Sam Antonacci and Derek Bender singled to put runners on the corners. After a Zack Beach walk, Graham Brown singled through to left field to plate Antonacci and Bender to make the score 5-2.
 
The Chants took the lead in the top of the seventh as Ty Dooley hit a one-out solo home run before Antonacci and Blake Barthol reached by walk and hit-by-pitch and Bender followed with an RBI double. Caden Bodine then singled to right to score Barthol. A second walk by Beach loaded the bases before Brown and Jake Books were walked and hit by pitch. Corey Zientek plated the sixth run to give Coastal an 8-5 lead with a sacrifice fly to right field to score Beach from third. The Mountaineers answered with a Holderbach RBI groundout after a pair of walks to trail 8-6.
 
However, Appalachian State retook the lead in the home half of the eighth after Zamora singled to right center before three consecutive hit-by-pitches loaded the bases and pull the Mountaineers to within one at 8-7. Church's single to center-field scored St. Laurent and Boyd for the final tally of 9-8.
 
CCU's Trevor Hinkel (1-1) worked 1.1 innings, allowing three runs on one hit and three hit batters in the loss, while App State's Collin Welch (1-0) pitched 2.2 innings, allowing no runs and no hits with two strikeouts.
 
COASTAL 17 – APPALACHIAN STATE 11 (12 innings)
Coastal opened the second game with a walk by Barthol followed by a single through the left side by Bender to put runners on first and third. Bender quickly moved to scoring position by stealing second before Bodine plated Barthol with a sacrifice fly to left field to lead 1-0 after one. CCU's Cameron Flukey, making his first career start, got out of an early jam with a pair of strikeouts and grounder to third to escape unscathed.
 
However, the Mountaineers sat down the Coastal bats in order before getting three runs after Xavier Moronta walked and advanced to second on a Quintero single and a home run to right field by Hunter Wilder made the score 3-1 at the end of the second.
 
After holding the Chanticleers scoreless in their next two at bats, App State added two runs as St. Laurent doubled to right center to score Boyd, who walked to reach first. Tolley followed with a double to left to plate St. Laurent to make the score 5-1 at the end of the fourth.
 
Coastal exploded for six runs in the top of the fifth when Books singled to center and advanced to third on Dean Mihos' double to right center. Ty Barrango followed with a single to center to score both Mihos and Books. With no outs, Barrango stole second before Antonacci walked and Barthol loaded the bases with a bunt single. Bender then hit a blast down the right field line for a grand slam and give the Chants a 7-5 lead. The Mountaineers tied it up in the bottom half of the inning on a ground out RBI by Zamora and an RBI single by St. Laurent to make the score 7-7.
 
However, App State retook the lead at 8-7 after a walk by Church, a single by Quintero, and a single by Wilder.
 
The Chants answered in the top of the seventh as Bender scored on an RBI ground out by Brown before Beach hit his first home run of the game, a two-run shot to right field to lead 10-8.  In the home frame, Tolley plated St. Laurent, who hit a lead off single, with a double to left center. Tolley advanced to third on a deep fly by Holderbach and scored on a wild pitch to make the score 10-10.
 
In the eighth, CCU's Antonacci reached on a one-out walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Barthol singled through the right side to score Antonacci and give the Chants an 11-10 lead.
 
With two outs in the ninth, the Mountaineers with runners on first and third, Wilder doubled to left center to tie the game at 11-11.
 
Both teams were held scoreless in the 10th and 11th before the Chants tallied their second six run inning of the game. Coastal opened the final frame with six batters reaching base as Dooley led off getting hit before back-to-back bunts by Antonacci and Barthol to load the bases. Bender singled through the right side to plate Dooley and Antonacci which was followed by Bodine with a single to right field to score Barthol. Beach followed with a three-run homer to right field for the final tally 17-11.
 
Coastal's Dominick Carbone (4-1) picked up the win, as the freshman lefty pitched 3.0 innings, giving up one run on two hits while striking out four.
 
Appalachian State's starter Dante Chirico worked 4.0 innings, allowing six hits and three walks for seven runs before giving way to Trey Tujetsch (2-1). Tujetsch threw 2.0 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits with two strikeouts
 
Coastal Carolina will remain on the road as the Chanticleers will travel to Clemson, S.C., for a midweek battle with Clemson on Tuesday, March 26, at Doug Kingsmore Stadium with a 6 p.m. ET scheduled first pitch. The game will be streamed on ACCNX.
 
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.