MONTGOMERY, ALA. – The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers fell 5-0 to the No. 2 seed Southern Miss Eagles in the second round of the 2024 Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship presented by Troy University in Montgomery, Ala., on Wednesday afternoon. the sweep of the Marshall Thundering Herd with a 9-5 win on Saturday afternoon in Huntington, W.V., in the 2024 regular-season Sun Belt Conference series finale for both teams.
 
At the plate, CCU (34-22) was led by Sam Antonacci (1-for-4), Dean Mihos (1-for-3), and Jake Books (1-for-1) as the trio recorded the three hits. Henry Weycker did not factor in the decision, shoved 6.0 innings, and allowed no runs on two hits with five strikeouts, while Trevor Hinkel (1-2) suffered the loss allowing two runs on no hits and two walks. Dominick Carbone and Alexander Meckley worked a combined 1.0 innings, giving up three runs on two hits.
 
Southern Miss' Dalton McIntyre (1-for-4, R), Slade Wilks (1-for-4, 2B, R, 2RBI), Nick Monistere (1-for-3, HR, R, 3RBI), Matthew Russo (1-for-4), and Tucker Stockman (1-for-2, 2B) had all of the Eagles' five hits. Starter Billy Oldham gave up one hit and no runs with nine strikeouts and did not get the decision in 7.0 innings, while Colby Allen (8-2) pitched 2.0 innings with no runs and no hits with two strikeouts earned the win.
 
In the first inning, Coastal's Graham Brown drew a one-out walk but the Chants were unable to move him any further. CCU's starter Weycker struck out the side in the bottom of the frame.
 
Both teams worked 1-2-3 half innings in the second before the Chanticleers' Ty Dooley drew a one-out walk in the top of the third and stole second but Coastal was unable to take advantage of the opportunity. The Chants starter worked a three-up and three-down half inning with three consecutive groundouts.
 
In the bottom of the fourth inning, USM's McIntyre recorded the first hit of the game with an infield single to first and outraced the defense to the bag. After advancing to second on a sac bunt by Ozzie Pratt, McIntyre was stranded at second.
 
Coastal got its first hit of the game in the top of the fifth as Mihos singled through the left side before the Eagles forced a double play. After a leadoff walk to Monistere, the Eagles' Russo hit a long fly ball in the right-center gap that CCU's Brown made a diving catch on the warning track and recovered in time to record a 9-4-3 double play to keep the game tied at 0-0.
 
Southern Miss threatened in the bottom of the six as Stockman doubled to left center to lead off the frame and moved to second on a sac bunt. Coastal's Weycker enticed a pair of groundouts to end the threat.
 
After a scoreless seventh inning, the Chant's Books recorded a two-out pinch-hit single to right field but was unable to advance any further. In the bottom half of the home frame, a pair of leadoff walks forced the Chants to make a pitching change. McIntyre reached on a fielder's choice with the defense cutting down the lead runner at third. USM's Wilks doubled to left field to break open the scoring to score McIntyre and Gabe Broadus to lead 2-0. After a hit-by-pitch put runners on first and second, Monistere homered to center field for the final margin of 5-0.
 
CCU's Antonacci led off the top of the final inning with a single and advanced to second on a passed ball before the Eagle defense ended the threat.
 
Coastal Carolina will meet No. 6 Appalachian State in Montgomery, Ala., on Thursday, May 23 in the 2024 Guardian Credit Union Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship presented by Troy University with the first pitch scheduled for 10 a.m. ET. The game will be streamed on ESPN+ or fans can tune in on HANK 105.5.
 
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.