TROY, Ala. — No. 16 Coastal Carolina knocked off No. 18 Troy 11-3 on Friday night at Riddle-Pace Field, handing the Trojans their first home loss of the season in a dominant Sun Belt Conference win.
The Chanticleers (17-5, 4-0 SBC) used a four-run sixth and a four-run ninth to pull away, while right-hander
Jacob Morrison improved to 4-0 with five solid innings on the mound.
Dominick Carbone tossed four shutout innings in relief to earn his second save.
Dean Mihos and
Sebastian Alexander led the charge at the plate. Mihos went 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs, while Alexander launched a three-run homer in the sixth and scored twice.
Coastal capitalized on 10 walks, three hit batters, and three Troy errors, stranding 15 runners but cashing in when it mattered most. The Chants plated two in the fourth to go ahead 3-0, then responded to Troy's rally with a momentum-shifting sixth inning.
Alexander's blast broke the game open, stretching Coastal's lead to 7-3. The Chanticleers tacked on four more in the ninth, taking advantage of defensive miscues and a sacrifice fly from
Blagen Pado.
Troy (16-6, 2-2 SBC) got a solo home run from Steven Meier and a two-run double from Jakob Wax, but mustered just three runs despite nine hits. Garrett Gainous (4.0 IP, 3 ER) took the loss.
The victory extended Coastal Carolina's winning streak to four and kept them unbeaten in league play. Game two of the series is set for Saturday at 3:30 p.m. CT.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Coastal is in the middle of its longest road trip of the season. Following Saturday (3:30 p.m. CT) and Sunday's games at Troy (1 p.m.), the Chants head to No. 4 Clemson (March 25) and Texas State (March 28-30) before finally returning home to play a return game with Campbell on Tuesday, April 1 at 6 p.m. inside Springs Brooks Stadium.
Tickets for all Chanticleer baseball games are available at
GoCCUSports.com.
