HATTIESBURG, MISS. – The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers were knocked off by the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, 7-2, on Friday night in the series opener of a three-game Sun Belt Conference series in Hattiesburg, Miss.
Coastal's
Caden Bodine (2-for-4, 2B, HR, R, RBI) led the Chants (27-18, 11-11 SBC) at the plate with two of the four hits, while
Zack Beach (1-for-4, RBI) and
Sam Antonacci (1-for-3, BB) recorded the other hits. CCU starter
Riley Eikhoff (5-1) suffered his first loss of the season, working 4.2 innings and allowing four runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts.
USM (29-17, 13-9 SBC) starter Billy Oldham (6-1) allowed two runs on four hits while striking out 11 batters over 7.0 innings. At the plate, Dalton McIntyre (3-for-5, 2B, 3Rs), Davis Gillespie (3-for-5, 2 2Bs, R, 2RBIs), Nick Monistere (2-for-4, HR, R, 2RBIs), Ozzie Pratt (2-for-5, 2B, R, RBI), Slade Wilks (2-for-5, RBI), and Matthew Russo (2-for-4, RBI) did the damage.
After a scoreless first inning, the Chanticleers opened the scoring as Bodine led off the top of the second with a double and advanced to third on a groundout by
Derek Bender for a 1-0 lead. Southern Miss answered in the home half of the frame with a one-out home run by Monistere to even the score at 1-1.
The Golden Eagles took the lead in the bottom of the third as McIntyre hit a one-out double to center and scored on Wilks's double to make the score 2-1.
In the fourth, CCU's Bodine tied the game at 2-2 with a blast that traveled 416 feet over the center-field wall. USM led off the home half of the fourth inning with a single by Carson Paetow but was unable to advance him any further.
The Chants threatened in the top of the fifth inning but could not push Antonacci past second. The Eagles added a pair of runs on doubles by Pratt and Gillespie to score McIntyre and Pratt to make the score 4-2.
Southern Miss added the final three runs in the seventh and eighth as Gillespie hit a two-out single and moved to second on a walk to Paetow. Monistere singled down the third base line to score Gillespie before Russon singled to left to score Paetow to give the Eagles a 6-1 lead after seven. McIntyre led off the eighth with an infield single and scored on Gillespie's double to right center for the final margin of 7-2.
Coastal Carolina will remain in Hattiesburg, Miss., as the Chants and Southern Miss will meet for game two on Saturday, May 4, with the first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. 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.
