MONROE, LA. – The No. 19 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers evened the series with the ULM Warhawks with a 4-1 win in Monroe, La. With the win, CCU improved to 19-7 overall and 4-4 in Sun Belt play, while ULM dropped to 14-13 on the season and 3-5 in the league.
Coastal wasted little time getting on the scoreboard with the first three batters reaching base.
Sam Antonacci (1-for-3, 2HBP, R) continued his streak of reaching base safely in every game played this season by getting hit by a pitch. Antonacci stole second before
Blake Barthol (1-for-5, R) advanced him to third and reached first with a bunt.
Derek Bender (2-for-4, 2Rs, RBI) extended his hit streak to 15 games with an RBI single to left field to make the score 1-0 and put runners on the corners. After Bender advanced to second on a wild pitch,
Caden Bodine (0-for-3, BB, RBI) followed with an RBI ground out to plate Barthol.
Graham Brown (2-for-4, RBI) singled through the left side to score Bender and give the Chanticleers a 3-0 lead.
The Chanticleer starter
Riley Eikhoff (2-0) shoved 5.0 innings, allowing no runs on seven hits with a walk and three strikeouts. Reliever
Bryce Shaffer worked 3.1 innings, scattering three hits and allowing one run while striking out six batters.
Henry Weycker got the final two outs for his second save of the season.
CCU's Eikhoff faced the minimum batters through the first two innings after enticing a pair of double-plays by the Chanticleer infield after the Warhawks' leadoff hitters reached on singles to left center and left field.
In the third inning, ULM's Matt Abshire reached first on an infield single before advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hasani Johnson. Abshire moved to third on Kade Dupont's infield single. Eikhoff settled down and got Colby Lunsford for the final out to end the threat.
The Chants added an insurance run in the sixth as Bender singled through the left side before advancing to third on a single by Brown.
Jake Books (2-for-3, 2B, RBI) scored Bender from third with a single to right field to put the Chanticleers up 4-0.
However, in the seventh inning, the Warhawks put runners on first and second on back-to-back singles before Coastal's Shaffer got Jake Haggard to strikeout before loading the bases with a six-pitch walk. The Chanticleers escaped the bases-loaded jam as Shaffer struck out Abshire and got Johnson to ground out.
ULM threatened in the bottom of the eighth as Haggard singled to right before being lifted for a pinch runner. After a failed pick-off attempt and a wild pitch, the Warhawks had a runner on third with one out before CCU's Shaffer struck out Cardell Thibodeaux and Johnson to end the threat.
The Warhawks Dupont led off the ninth inning with a single to left before scoring after back-to-back Chanticleer errors to make the score 4-1. Coastal doubled up Lunsford at second on a flair to Antonacci to end the game.
Coastal Carolina will remain in Monroe, La., for the series finale of the Sun Belt Conference series on Saturday with a noon ET scheduled first pitch. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
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.
