CONWAY, S.C. – The No. 13 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers dropped the series opener 8-6 to the Troy Trojans in Sun Belt Conference action in Conway, S.C., on Friday night. With the loss, the Chanticleers fall to 27-15 overall and 11-8 in league play, while the Trojans improve to 29-14 on the year and 12-7 in conference action.
 
Coastal was led by Sam Antonacci (2-for-5, 2B, R) and Graham Brown (2-for-4, BB, 3Rs) as the duo recorded two hits each. On the mound, starter Riley Eikhoff, who did not factor in the decision, allowed three runs on three hits and no walks in 4.1 innings before giving way to Will Smith, who recorded the final two outs of the fifth inning, allowing no hits and no runs. CCU's Henry Weycker (1-1) took his first loss of the season by allowing two runs on three hits in 1.0 inning.
 
Troy's Brooks Bryan (2-for-4, HR, 2Rs, RBI), Ben Arnett (1-for-3, HR, R, RBI), and Tremayne Cobb, Jr. (2-for-4, 2B, HR, 2Rs, 4RBIs) hit home runs to lead the offense for the Trojans. Kyle Mock (3-for-4, RBI) was the only other Trojan to record multiple hits. Clete Hartzog (6-2) picked up his sixth win of the season, going 3.1 innings and allowing no runs on one hit with three walks while striking out two. Michael Osmand pitched the ninth for his first save of the year. Troy starter Garrett Gainous gave up four runs on four hits with three walks and struck out three batters.
 
After setting Troy down in order in the top of the first, Coastal jumped to the early 1-0 lead as Brown drew a two-out walk and promptly stole second before scoring by a single to right field by Blake Barthol in the home half of the inning.
 
In the second inning, the Trojans evened the game at 1-1 with a lead-off home run to right field by Bryan.
 
The Chanticleers retook the lead in the bottom of the third on back-to-back singles by Caden Bodine and Brown before scoring three runs on three walks and a hit batter to lead 4-1.
 
Troy closed the deficit to one in the fourth and fifth innings as Cobb laced a two-out double to left field and scored on a single by Mock in the top of the fourth. Arnett led off the fifth inning with the second-long ball of the night for the Trojans to make the score 4-3.
 
After a scoreless sixth inning, Troy loaded the bases with no outs before Will Butcher tied the game at 4-4 with a groundout to second. After Bryan was intentionally walked to load the bases Cobb belted a grand slam to right center to give the Trojans an 8-4 lead in the seventh.
 
The Chanticleers' Antonacci doubled down the left-field line to lead off the home half of the seventh. Brown singled to right field to put runners on the corners before a wild pitch strikeout allowed Antonacci to score. Derek Bender followed with a single to second base to score Brown from second to make the score 8-6.
 
CCU's Sebastian Alexander led off the home half of the eight by getting hit and quickly moved to second on a steal. Alexander then advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt that went to center field. The Chants were unable to score as the Trojan pitching staff struck out the side to end the threat.
 
Coastal Carolina returns to action for game two of the series with Troy in Springs Brooks Stadium on Saturday, April 27, with the first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. ET. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard on WRNN 99.5 Hot Talk.
 
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