LAFAYETTE, La. – No. 20 Coastal Carolina used a dominant pitching performance from Cameron Flukey and Darin Horn to defeat Louisiana 6-0 on Friday night, evening this weekend's Sun Belt Conference series at one game apiece.
The Chanticleers broke through first in the top of the fourth inning when Trace Mazon ripped an RBI double to left field to score Blake Barthol and give Coastal Carolina a 1-0 lead.
Coastal added to its advantage in the seventh inning as Rex Watson lined an RBI single to score Walker Mitchell from second base and make it 2-0 Chanticleers.
The Chants continued to add insurance in the eighth inning when Blagen Pado launched a solo home run to left field, his fifth home run of the season, extending the lead to 3-0. Coastal added three more runs in the ninth as Mitchell delivered an RBI single to score Barthol and make it 4-0 before Colby Thorndyke executed a safety squeeze to score Mitchell from third and extend the lead to 5-0. Domenico Tozzi later added an RBI double to push the Coastal lead to 6-0.
That was more than enough support for the Coastal Carolina pitching staff.
Flukey tossed four scoreless innings, allowing just two hits while striking out five and walking one on 67 pitches.
Horn took over in relief and dominated the rest of the way, tossing five scoreless innings while allowing just two hits, one walk, and striking out nine to earn the win. With the victory, Horn is just the second pitcher in Division I baseball this season to record at least seven wins and seven saves.
Offensively, Barthol recorded the 250th hit of his Coastal Carolina career, becoming just the eighth player in program history to reach the milestone. Barthol, Mitchell, and Mazon each recorded two hits in the victory.
With the win, Coastal Carolina improved to 36-18 overall and 21-8 in Sun Belt Conference play.
The Chanticleers and Ragin' Cajuns will meet in Saturday's rubber match. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+.
