SAN MARCOS, Texas — Behind a dominant start from
Jacob Morrison and a late-inning grand slam, No. 21 Coastal Carolina shut out Texas State 7-0 Friday night at Bobcat Ballpark to open the Sun Belt series.
Morrison (5-0) tossed seven scoreless innings, allowing just five hits and striking out 10 without a walk to lead the Chanticleers (19-7, 5-2 Sun Belt) to their fourth straight win.
Dominick Carbone and
Tadan Bell combined for two clean innings of relief to preserve the shutout.
Walker Mitchell broke the game open in the ninth with a towering grand slam to left-center — his third homer of the season — pushing a 3-0 Coastal lead into blowout territory. The junior finished with a game-high four RBIs.
The Chants manufactured their first run in the fourth on a
Dean Mihos RBI single after a defensive miscue, then plated two more in the fifth on a Texas State error and aggressive baserunning by
Colby Thorndyke, who swiped two bags in the frame.
Texas State (11-14, 3-4 Sun Belt) managed seven hits but went 0-for-5 with runners in scoring position and struck out 12 times. Starter Alex Valentin (4-1) took the loss despite allowing just two earned runs over six innings.
NOTEBOOK:
- Morrison Masterclass: The junior right-hander has now struck out 39 batters over his last four starts and leads the team in wins with five. He threw 74 of his 107 pitches for strikes.
- Mitchell Mashes: Mitchell's grand slam was his second homer in his last five games. He also laid down a sac bunt in the fifth that set up a two-run rally.
- Free Passes: Coastal drew eight walks and was hit by three pitches, capitalizing on Texas State's lack of command.
- Error-Free Defense: The Chanticleers played clean behind their pitching staff, not committing an error in the win.
WHAT'S NEXT?
Coastal is wrapping up its longest road trip of the season and knocked off No. 3 Clemson, 8-2, on Tuesday night. The Chants are at Texas State (March 28-30) for this weekend set before finally returning home to play a return game with Campbell on Tuesday, April 1 at 6 p.m. inside Springs Brooks Stadium. Saturday's game in San Marcos will start at 3:30 p.m. ET and air on ESPN+ and the Chanticleer Sports Network.
Tickets for all Chanticleer baseball games are available at
GoCCUSports.com.
