TROY, Ala. — No. 16 Coastal Carolina baseball mounted a furious eighth-inning rally but ultimately fell short in a 9-8 loss to No. 18 Troy on Saturday afternoon at Riddle-Pace Field.
 
The Chanticleers (17-6, 4-1 Sun Belt) erased a five-run deficit with a five-run eighth, only for the Trojans (17-6, 3-2 Sun Belt) to answer with four runs of their own in the bottom half to reclaim the lead for good.
 
Blake Barthol continued his hot hitting with a 3-for-4 day, including a double and a solo home run in the fifth. Colby Thorndyke added three hits, including a two-run double in the eighth that sparked Coastal's comeback.
 
After back-to-back singles from Kaleb Huffman and Wells Sykes to start the eighth, Thorndyke's double cut Troy's lead to 5-4. RBI from Ty Dooley, a sacrifice fly by Caden Bodine, and a bases-loaded walk to Walker Mitchell gave Coastal an 8-5 advantage.
 
However, the lead was short-lived. Troy responded with three hits and capitalized on a Coastal error in the bottom half of the inning. Jakob Wax's RBI double tied the game, and Jimmy Janicki's pinch-hit single put the Trojans back in front. A hit-by-pitch and a bases-loaded walk capped the four-run frame.
 
Coastal had 14 hits to Troy's 11 but left 10 runners on base and committed the game's lone error.
 
Luke Lyon (2-1) earned the win with 1.2 innings of scoreless relief for Troy, while Ryan Lynch (1-1) took the loss for Coastal.
 
The series concludes Sunday.
 
NOTEBOOK
Barthol Bash: Blake Barthol continued to anchor the lineup, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and a home run. He's now hitting .375 in the series with a 1.000 slugging percentage.
 
Thorndyke's Surge: First baseman Colby Thorndyke is 4-for-4 through two games vs. Troy, driving in three runs and posting a .556 slugging mark.
 
Late-Inning Drama: Saturday's game featured 14 combined runs in the final four innings. Coastal has scored in just three of its last 10 innings but put up multi-run frames in all three.
 
Flukey's Start: Cameron Flukey gave Coastal five innings, allowing five earned runs on seven hits. He struck out four and walked one on 79 pitches.
 
Clean Gloves Continue: Coastal has committed just one error in the series, and none by its infield starters. The team holds a .985 fielding percentage through two games.
 
Attendance: 2,941 fans were on hand at Riddle-Pace Field for the top-25 showdown in the Sun Belt.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Coastal is in the middle of its longest road trip of the season. Following Sunday's game 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.