WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. – The No. 20 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers dropped a 12-3 top-25 midweek matchup with the No. 14 Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, N.C., on Tuesday evening. With the loss, the Chants dropped to 22-10 on the season, while the Deacs improved to 22-10 with the win.
Coastal Carolina used six pitchers with starter
Alexander Meckley (3-3) taking the loss, working 2.0 innings and allowing eight runs on four hits and two walks while striking out two batters.
Hayden Johnson pitched 2.2 innings, giving up two runs on four hits while striking out five batters.
Trevor Hinkel worked 1.2 innings, giving up two runs on two hits while striking out one.
Will Smith,
Dominick Carbone, and
Henry Weycker threw a combined 1.2 innings while giving up two hits and no runs with four strikeouts.
CCU's
Sam Antonacci (2-for-4, 2B, R, RBI) and
Caden Bodine (2-for-4, 2B) paced the offense with multiple hits with
Blake Barthol (1-for-2, 3BBs, RBI),
Dean Mihos (1-for-4, 2B, 2Rs, RBI), and
Anthony Galason (1-for-1) adding one hit each.
The Chanticleers' Antonacci extended his hit streak to 15 games with a leadoff double in the top of the first. The Springfield, Ill., native advanced to third on a wild pitch before Barthol walked to put runners on the corners. Coastal took a 1-0 lead on an RBI ground out by
Derek Bender before the Demon Deacons could end the inning.
Wake Forest scored five runs in the home half of the frame as Nick Kurtz smashed a two-run home run to take the lead followed by a solo shot from Jack Winnay and a second two-run homer by Seaver King to make the score 5-1 at the end of the first.
After CCU's Mihos drew a one-out walk and moved into scoring position on a wild pitch, Antonacci hit a two-out single to cut the lead to 5-2 in the top of the second inning. However, the Demon Deacons increased their lead to 8-2 after Kurtz's second home run of the day a three-run blast to right field.
Coastal threatened in the fifth inning, putting runners on second and third, but was unable to get them home. WF opened the home half of the frame with back-to-back homers by Winnay and Jack Reinisch to take a 10-2 lead.
The Chants again had runners in scoring position in the top of the seventh but were not able to score. Coastal's Hinkel worked a 1-2-3 inning getting the visitors back to the plate.
In the eighth, CCU cut the deficit to 10-3 after loading the bases beginning with a two-out double by Mihos and back-to-back hit batters by
Corey Zientek and Antonacci. Barthol drew his third walk of the game to force Mihos home.
Wake Forest closed out the scoring after loading the bases with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning before King drove in the final two runs with a single to left field.
Coastal Carolina will remain on the road as the Chanticleers will travel to Statesboro, Ga., for a Sun Belt Conference series with the Georgia Southern Eagles beginning on Friday, April 12. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. ET. The 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.
