CONWAY, S.C. – Colby Thorndyke blasted his first home run as a Chanticleer and No. 21 Coastal Carolina poured on the offense early to cruise past Marshall 13-5 on Sunday afternoon at Springs Brooks Stadium, securing a Sun Belt Conference series sweep.
The win marked Coastal Carolina's second straight Sun Belt sweep, its third of the season, and improved the Chanticleers to 30-10 overall and 14-4 in league play. The Chants have now claimed victory in five of their six conference series and boast a 17-3 record at home.
Thorndyke's three-run shot in the fourth inning broke the game open, capping a stretch of nine unanswered runs that erased an early 5-3 deficit. The sophomore first baseman, who hit 15 homers last year at Brunswick Community College, finished 1-for-2 with a walk and three RBIs.
Caden Bodine continued his torrid stretch at the plate, going 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, a hit-by-pitch, and two runs scored.
Walker Mitchell reached base four times, scored three runs, and stole a pair of bases, while
Sebastian Alexander added two hits, two runs, two stolen bases and an RBI.
After starter
Riley Eikhoff allowed five runs (four earned) over 2.2 innings, Coastal's bullpen combined for 6.1 scoreless frames.
Hayden Johnson (3-0) earned the win with 2.1 innings of one-hit relief, while four other relievers —
Darin Horn,
Scott Doran,
Dominick Carbone and
Ryan Lynch — closed the door on the Herd (18-22, 6-12 SBC) with one inning each.
NOTEBOOK
• Thorndyke Delivers First Coastal Long Ball: Colby Thorndyke's fourth-inning homer was his first as a Chanticleer. The Brunswick CC transfer slugged 15 long balls last season at the junior college level. His three RBIs tied a season high.
• Stolen Base Clinic: Coastal swiped six bases on the day — including two each by Mitchell and Alexander — marking the team's best effort this season after setting a mark of five on Friday night against the Herd .
• Bodine Heating Up: Caden Bodine recorded his second straight multi-hit game and now has 10 hits, including six doubles, in his last 10 games and raised his season average to .315.
• Sun Belt Success: With the sweep, the Chanticleers have now won five of six conference weekends. They have swept Georgia Southern, Georgia State and Marshall and are 9-1 in their last 10 Sun Belt games.
UP NEXT
Coastal starts another five-game road trip on Tuesday, going for a season sweep against College of Charleston. The two squads will square off at 6 p.m. ET inside The Ballpark at Patriots Point. The game airs on FloCollege and you can listen to the Chanticleer Sports Network or via the Chanticleer Mobile App.
