CONWAY, S.C. – No. 20 Coastal Carolina battled back from an early three-run deficit to defeat The Citadel 5-3 on Tuesday night at Springs Brooks Stadium in the Chanticleers' regular-season home finale.
Despite the Bulldogs jumping out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning, Coastal Carolina responded quickly and steadily chipped away throughout the night.
The Chanticleers got on the board in the bottom of the second inning when Blake Barthol launched a solo home run to right field. The blast marked Barthol's 39th career home run, tying Zach Beach for the fifth-most home runs in program history.
Coastal continued the comeback in the third inning. Rex Watson ripped an RBI double to right field, scoring Trace Mazon from first base to cut the deficit to 3-2. Later in the inning, Walker Mitchell delivered an RBI single up the middle to plate Watson from second and even the score at 3-3.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the seventh inning when Domenico Tozzi delivered the go-ahead swing, belting his third home run of the season to give the Chanticleers a 4-3 lead. Coastal added an insurance run later in the inning as Watson lined an RBI single to score Ty Barrango from second base.
Watson and Barthol each finished with two hits to lead the Chanticleer offense.
Out of the bullpen, Case Bosch earned the win after tossing two scorless innings. The right-hander allowed three hits while striking out four and walking one. Ryan Lynch earned the save after recording the final three outs of the contest, allowing no hits and striking out one.
With the victory, Coastal Carolina improved to 35-17 overall and remained 20-7 in Sun Belt Conference play.
The Chanticleers will close out the regular season this weekend with a three-game Sun Belt Conference series at Louisiana beginning Thursday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
