MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Top-seeded Coastal Carolina opened the Sun Belt Conference Baseball Championship presented by Troy University with a commanding 8-1 win over No. 9 seed Georgia Southern on Wednesday night at Riverwalk Stadium.

The Chanticleers (45-11) extended their winning streak to 15 games overall and advanced to the winner's bracket to face the winner of No. 4 Marshall and No. 5 Louisiana at 8:30 p.m. ET Thursday night.

Riley Eikhoff (6-2) earned the win with 7.2 strong innings on the mound, scattering eight hits and striking out six without issuing a walk. Coastal's pitching staff did not allow a free pass and retired 10 of the final 11 batters faced.

After falling behind 1-0 on a solo home run which bounced off a train in the second inning, Coastal answered with four runs in the third and never looked back. Walker Mitchell tripled home two runs to ignite the outburst before Blake Barthol and Chad Born each drove in a run.

Barthol finished 2-for-5 with two doubles, two RBIs and a stolen base, while catcher Caden Bodine reached base four times and scored twice. Ty Barrango and Wells Sykes added RBI singles as the Chants tacked on insurance runs in the fourth through seventh innings.

The victory marked Coastal's 19th in a row over a Sun Belt opponent. 
 
NOTEBOOK
Winning Ways Continue: Coastal Carolina has now won 15 straight games, tying its most recent 15-game streak from Feb. 20 to March 15, 2024. 

Eikhoff in Control: Riley Eikhoff turned in one of his best outings of the season, allowing just one earned run over 7.2 innings. The right-hander improved to 6-2 and threw 71 of his 96 pitches for strikes.

Balanced Offense: The Chanticleers posted 12 hits from seven different players and scored in five consecutive innings from the third through the seventh. Five players drove in at least one run.

Extra-Base Energy: Walker Mitchell's two-run triple was his second of the season, and Blake Barthol recorded his 10th and 11th doubles. The Chants now have 162 extra-base hits on the campaign.

Top of the Order Production: Caden Bodine and Sebastian Alexander combined to reach base five times and score three runs. Alexander also stole his 24th base of the year, while Bodine raised his season OBP to .470.

What's Next: Coastal Carolina advances to Thursday's 8:30 p.m. ET game against either No. 4 Marshall or No. 5 Louisiana. All SBC tournament games air on ESPN+ and fans can listen via the Chanticleer Sports Network or Chanticleer Mobile App.