CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina softball team overpowered the Southern Miss Golden Eagles in a 16-3 victory to take the Sun Belt Conference series 2-1 at St. John Stadium on Sunday.

With the win, the Chants improve to 23-16, 5-7 Sun Belt, while Southern Miss falls to 17-20 overall and 5-7 in league play.

The Chants took an early lead in the bottom of the first inning when Libby Pippin scored on a Southern Miss error and Maddy Jennings laced an RBI double to make the score 2-0.

CCU opened the bottom of the second inning with back-to-back singles from Brie Normandin and Clara Hudgens, and a hit-by-pitch to load the bases. Riley Zana then brought in the first run of the inning when her single got lost in the sun and allowed Normandin to reach home to put Coastal up 3-0.

Iyanla De Jesus kept the runs coming in the second frame when she belted a sacrifice fly to center field to push CCU ahead 4-0. Jennings then stepped up to the plate and ripped her second RBI double of the game to extend CCU's lead to 5-0. The Chants scored three more runs in the inning on a hit-by-pitch, a walk, and an RBI single from Hudgens to make the score 9-0.

The Golden Eagles cut the deficit to 9-3 in the top of the third inning when Jana Lee hit a three-run homer over the right field wall.

Coastal continued to dominate in the bottom of the fourth inning with another explosive-seven run inning that was kicked off by a leadoff home run from Jennings. Ava Hampton then followed in Jennings' footsteps blasting a two-run home run of her own to push CCU in front at 12-3. Zana put the game to rest when she hammered her fourth grand slam home run of the season to give Coastal a 16-3 win.

Raelee Brabham improved to 17-7 in the circle, allowing three runs while striking out six batters in her 5.0 innings of work.

The Chanticleers are set to take on the Charleston Southern Buccaneers in a doubleheader at St. John Stadium on Wednesday. Game one will commence at 3 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.