CONWAY, S.C. –
Riley Eikhoff allowed one run as the No. 20 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers knocked off the No. 14 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, 9-1, at Springs Brooks Stadium for a home top-25 Sun Belt Conference clash on Friday night that included a 37 minutes weather delay.
Due to forecasted weather on Sunday, the game originally scheduled on Sunday has been moved to Saturday for a doubleheader. Saturday's game time has been moved to 1 p.m. ET with the second game of the day beginning approximately 45 minutes at the conclusion of game one.
Coastal's Eikhoff (5-0) worked 7.0 innings, allowing one run on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
Alexander Meckley pitched the final two innings, giving up just two hits while striking out six batters.
At the plate for CCU (26-11, 10-6 SBC),
Zack Beach (2-for-2, 2B, HR, 2BBs, 3Rs, 2RBIs),
Graham Brown (2-for-5, 2B, 2Rs, 2RBIs), and
Caden Bodine (2-for-5, 2B, 2RBIs) all had two base hits each, while
Blake Barthol (1-for-3, 2BBs, R) and
Jake Books (1-for4, RBI) had one hit apiece.
Louisiana's Andrew Herrmann (4-2) took the loss by allowing eight runs on five hits with four walks and one strikeout. David Christie with a career-high 6.1 innings, allowed one run on three hits while walking four and striking out four batters.
The Ragin' Cajuns' John Taylor (2-for-4, HR, R, RBI) and Lee Amedee (2-for-4) had four of the seven hits for UL.
In the first inning, Taylor staked the Cajuns (30-10, 14-2 SBC) to a 1-0 lead with a solo shot to right center on the very first pitch. The Chants' Eikhoff settled down to get back-to-back groundouts and a fly ball to left to end the top half of the inning.
Coastal's
Sam Antonacci (0-for-3, 2BBs, R) worked a four-pitch walk to lead off the home half of the frame followed by an error by the Ragin' Cajuns to put runners on the corner with no outs. Barthol loaded the bases with a walk before advancing to third on a two-run double by Bodine to make the score 2-1.
Graham Brown singled to center to plate Barthol. Beach loaded the bases with his first walk of the game before a second miscue by Louisiana allowed two more runs to score to give the Chanticleers a 5-1 lead at the end of the first.
After allowing a two-out single, the Chants added three runs as
Derek Bender walked to lead off the home half of the inning before advancing to third after a double play by the Cajuns. Brown doubled down the left-field line to score Bender from third before Beach hit a two-run blast to right field to take an 8-1 lead off UL's starter Herrmann.
Over the next five innings, CCU's Eikhoff allowed just three runners to reach base, a leadoff single in the top of the third, a hit batter, and a single in the fourth. Coastal added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth as Beach doubled to center off the 20-foot batter's eye and scored on the RBI single to left field by Books to lead 9-1. Eikhoff recorded three strikeouts over the next three innings before giving way to Meckley in the top of the eighth.
The Chanticleers' Meckley allowed singles in both the eighth and ninth while striking out the side in both innings for the final six outs of the game.
Coastal Carolina and Louisiana will return to action in Conway, S.C., for a doubleheader with the first pitched scheduled for 1 p.m. ET on Saturday, April 20. Both games 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.
