No. 19 Coastal Carolina Defeats No. 3 North Carolina, 5-2
CONWAY - Seth Lancaster accounted for Coastal Carolina's first four runs and Kieton Rivers added a solo home run in the eighth inning to lead the 19th-ranked Chanticleers to a 5-2 victory over #3 North Carolina Wednesday night at Springs Brooks Stadium.
With the win, Coastal improves to 33-16 and CCU has won four of the last six meetings versus the Tar Heels (33-14) dating back to 2014.
Lancaster, who ranks fourth in the NCAA in both runs scored and walks, added to both totals as he was 2-for-3 with a two-run home run, a total of three runs scored, a walk and two stolen bases. Lee Sponseller was 3-for-4 with two doubles, driving in Lancaster twice.
Anthony Veneziano (5-0) picked up the win as he started and pitched four scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and one walk while striking out five. Patrick Orlando and Davie Inman each struck out two over their combined 2.1 innings before Jay Causey worked the last 2.2 innings to pick up his second save of the season. Causey did not allow a hit nor a run while walking two and striking out three, including each of the last two batters looking.
Cory Wood started the bottom of the first inning with a four-pitch walk. Lancaster, who was down 0-2 to start his at bat, took three balls before crushing his 13th home run of the season to give the Chants an early 2-0 lead.
Coastal pushed its lead to 3-0 in the third. Lancaster drew a leadoff walk and, after stealing second, scored on Sponseller's second double of the game.
The Lancaster-Sponseller combination worked again in the fifth to put the Chanticleers up 4-0. Lancaster hit a one-out single. He would steal his second base of the game and took third on the play thanks to a UNC throwing error. Three batters later, Sponseller lined a two-out single back up the middle to bring home Lancaster.
North Carolina got on the scoreboard in the sixth and cut its deficit in half, 4-2. Brandon Riley had a one-out single and Ike Freeman followed with a home run to left field.
Rivers added a key insurance run in the bottom of the eighth with his fourth home run of the season to provide the 5-2 final.
UNC starter Taylor Sugg (2-1) took the loss after allowing two hits, three runs and three walks in 2.1 innings.
Coastal Carolina, leader of the Sun Belt East Division, will stay home to host Sun Belt West Division leader Little Rock this weekend. Remember, the time for Friday's opener has been moved to 2 pm. With this series being CCU's final home stand, Coastal will honor its seniors Saturday prior to the game, also set for 2 pm. The series will conclude Sunday at Noon.
Eagles Soar Past Owls 9-3 to Open Road Swing
KENNESAW, GA. - Georgia Southern Baseball erased an early 3-0 deficit with nine unanswered runs to take a 9-3 win over Kennesaw State on Wednesday night in Cobb County. The Eagles will travel on to Jonesboro Arkansas to continue their four game road swing at Arkansas State beginning on Friday.
SCORING PLAYS
Bottom 1st - Kennesaw State scratched out three runs in the first inning off three hits to take an early lead over the Eagles. A bases loaded walk, a wild pitch and a single to left plated the runs to put the home team on top early.
Top 2nd - Georgia Southern answered immediately, getting four runs off one hit while sending all nine batters to the plate. A bases loaded walk to Steven Curry plated one run, while a Mitchell Golden single to left scored two. A wild pitch with two outs allowed Steven Curry to scamper home and give the Eagles a 4-3 lead.
Top 3rd - Matt Anderson sparked a two run third with a two out double. Christian Avant drove in a run with a single to right. After Avant stole second, Curry did his job and pushed Avant home with a single to left.
Top 6th - A single from Avant was followed by five walks which brought two runs in to push the lead to 8-3 in favor of the good guys.
Top 8th - Mitchell Golden was hit by a pitch with one out and moved up on a pair of wild pitches. A ground ball to third allowed the Eagle third baseman to score and push the lead to 9-3.
NOTES
- After missing more than two months (78 days and 42 games to be exact), Jacob Parker made his return to game action on Wednesday night, tossing three innings of no-hit relief to earn his first collegiate win. Parker's last appearance was the February 20 game against Georgia Tech, a game he started, but left in the second inning after sustaining an apparent injury.
- Mitchell Golden went 2-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs to pull his weight in the No. 2 slot in the lineup.
- Christian Avant posted a 2-for-4 day, reaching a third time on a hit by pitch. He scored all three times and drove in a run of his own out of the No. 8 slot in the lineup.
- Lawson Humphries made his first appearance since April 4th, retiring the final two outs on seven pitches.
- Five Eagle pitches combined to hold Kennesaw State to just five hits. After getting three runs in the first of three hits, the Owls managed just two hits in their final eight trips to the plate.
- Wednesday's win avenged a 12-3 loss to Kennesaw State on April 10.
- The win was Head Coach Rodney Hennon's 750th overall victory in his 21st year as a head coach.
UP NEXT
Georgia Southern will now head to the west and cross the Mississippi for a three game series against Arkansas State this weekend. First pitch is set for Friday night at 6:30 p.m. (CT) / 7:30 p.m. (ET).
Troy Falls to Mississippi State in Extras
HOOVER, Alabama – Despite Troy's four-run rally to take the lead in the top of the ninth inning, Mississippi State scored once in each of the final two innings to come away with the 9-8 victory in the 2nd Annual Hoover Classic at the Hoover Met Wednesday night.
Mississippi State (27-22) scored in the 10th when a sacrifice bunt attempt resulted in a throwing error and the winning run came across the plate. Hunter Stovall drove in a run on a sac fly in the bottom of the ninth to tie the game.
The Trojans' (32-17) relentless effort in the top of the ninth was nearly enough to pull out the win. Joey Denison started the scoring with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to drive in his third run of the game – he now holds the school's single-season sac fly record with nine.
Brandon Lockridge brought home the next run on a single through the left side, cutting the lead to just one and starting a string of three consecutive RBI singles. It was the freshman's turn next, as Rigsby Mosley delivered a game-tying single on an 0-2 pitch. The rally was capped by senior Brody Binder, who drove in the go-ahead run on a base hit to right.
Troy took its first lead of the game with a three-run fifth inning. Denison picked up two RBIs on a double to right center and Mosley brought him home two batters later. Those two, along with Matt Sanders, were responsible for seven of the Trojans' 12 hits in the game.
Suffering the loss was CJ Carter (6-4), who allowed just three hits in three innings of relief work, but allowed the two costly runs in the end. Riley Self (2-0) earned the win with 1.2 innings of one-hit work on the mound for the Bulldogs.
Quotable – Troy head coach Mark Smartt
"I'm real proud of that ninth inning. That was excellent work with great at-bats. But we just weren't able to close it out; you have to win the game. Unfortunately, we took the loss, so we'll have to regroup and get ready for ULM this weekend. I hate it for our fans; we had a great crowd here tonight. Props to our Athletics Department, they put on a great event and drew a lot of people. They were really into the game the whole time, I just hate we couldn't pull out a win for them."
Noteworthy
• Senior Joey Denison drove in three runs in the game to move his season-total to 58 – he entered the game ranked 15th nationally. Denison also set the single-season sacrifice fly record with nine this year.
• The nation's top run scorer, Matt Sanders, crossed the plate two more times to move to 68 on the season. He's now tied with Clint Robinson for second place on the career runs scored list with 168 and is in sole-possession of eighth in the single-season runs category.
• "Mr. Clutch", Rigsby Mosley, delivered a game-tying, RBI single with one out in the top of the ninth. Mosley now has three late-game, go-ahead or game-tying base hits in the last eight games – a grand slam against UTA, a walk-off single against UTA and Wednesday's single.
• Troy has faced three SEC opponents this season, losing all three games by a single run – 4-5 at Auburn, 3-4 at Alabama and now 8-9 at Mississippi State.
On Deck
The Trojans' road trip will conclude with three games at Sun Belt foe ULM this weekend. First pitch in Friday's opener is set for 6 p.m.