CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina baseball team won 17-13 over the Georgia State Panthers as Coastal Carolina honored legendary head coach Gary Gilmore before the series opener resumed play after getting suspended due to inclement weather on Friday.
 
Coastal (29-20, 12-13 SBC) was led by Graham Brown (3-for-3, 3BB, 2 2B, HR, 5R, RBI), Corey Zientek (3-for-4, HBP, 2B, HR, 2R, 2RBI), and Caden Bodine (2-for-4, 2BB, HR, 3R, 4RBI) with multiple hits for the game, while Sam Antonacci, Derek Bender, Blake Barthol, Zack Beach, Dean Mihos, and Ty Dooley recorded one hit each.
 
The Chants used seven pitchers between the two days with Riley Eikhoff getting the start before Will Smith took over just before play was suspended. Parker Cassell took the mound when the game resumed and gave way to Henry Weycker (2-1) before Jake Manderson and Alexander Meckley recorded the final six outs.
 
The Panthers (23-27, 11-14 SBC) were paced by Will Mize (3-for-5, 2B, 2HR, 3R, 5RBI), Matt Ruiz (3-for-4, BB, 2HR, 3R, 3RBI), Brennan Hudson (3-for-5, 2b, HR, R, 2RBI), and JoJo Jackson(1-for-5, HR, R, RBI) at the plate, while Sam Schofield (3-3) took the loss, allowing eight runs on five hits with three walks in the lone inning he pitched.
 
The two teams combined for five home runs in the 2.2 innings of play on Friday before the inclement weather suspended the game, with Georgia State getting four runs in the top of the first inning after a lead-off walk and a double by Mize to put runners on second and third. Michael Maginnis grounded out to third to bring in the first run of the game. After a ground out by Jackson, Ruiz hit the first of his two home runs to make the score 3-0, followed by a solo shot by Hudson to give GSU a 4-0 lead.
 
Coastal answered in the bottom half on a one-out blast by Brown to cut the deficit to 4-1 after one inning of play.
 
In the top of the second, the Panthers' first two batters reached on a walk and a single to put runners on first and third. After a pair of strikeouts, Maginnis drove in his second run of the day with a single to center field to give GSU a short-lived 5-1 lead. The Chants tied the score up in the bottom of the second inning as Zientek hit a rope to left field before Antonacci and Brown drew two-out walks and scored on Bodine's home run to right field to tie the score at 5-5.
 
After a lead-off walk to Ruiz in the top of the third inning, Hudson drove in his second RBI of the game with a double to center field to take a 6-5 lead before play was suspended. When play resumed, Mize drove in a pair of runs on a CCU fielding error to take an 8-5 lead.
 
In the fourth inning, Coastal took the lead for good as the Chants loaded the bases on a hit-by-pitch and a pair of walks before Barthol hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Antonacci from third. Mihos singled to left after a walk loaded the bases to cut tie the game at 8-8. With runners on first and second, Zientek loaded the bases on a bunt single and scored on the grand slam by Dooley to make the score 12-8 for CCU.
 
The Chanticleers added three more runs in the home half of the fifth as Brown doubled off the center field wall and scored on the double by Bender down the right-field line. Barthol hit a second sacrifice fly to score Bodine from third followed by a sac fly by Beach to score Bender and give Coastal a 15-8 lead.
 
The Panthers responded with a home run to left center by Mize to make the score 15-9 in the top of the sixth inning.
 
Coastal increased its lead to 16-9 with Beach leading off the home half of the seventh inning with a double to left center and Zientek scoring with a one-out double down the left-field line.
 
In the top of the eighth, Georgia State cut the lead to six on a two-run home run to left field by Mize. Coastal added one back as Brown doubled for the second time in the game and scored on the single through the right side by Bodine to make the score 17-11.
 
In the final frame, GSU got back-to-back home runs by Jackson and Ruiz to start the ninth and close out the scoring at 17-13 before Manderson and Meckley teamed up to record the final three outs.
 
Coastal and Georgia State will return to the diamond for a doubleheader on Sunday, May 12, at Springs Brooks Stadium with the first pitch scheduled for noon ET. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ and can be heard on WRNN 99.5 Hot Talk.
 
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.