Chanticleers clobber Cougars 17-7 Tuesday night

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina baseball team had four players with three RBIs or more and scored eight runs in the second inning alone to blow out the College of Charleston Cougars 17-7 on Tuesday night at Patriots Point in Charleston, S.C.

With the win, the Chanticleers snapped the Cougars’ seven-game winning streak and improved to 23-14-1 overall, while the loss dropped Charleston to 26-14 on the season.

The offense broke out the bats and then some on Tuesday night, as 11 different Chants had at least one hit for the game, led by catcher Kameron Guangorena (2-for-3, 2B, SF, 4 RBIs, run) with a career-high four RBIs, which was matched by fellow left-handed hitter Nick Lucky (2-for-4, SF, 4 RBIs, run).

Both Austin White (2-for-5, 3B, BB, 3 RBIs, 4 runs, SB) and Eric Brown (1-for-4, 3B, 3 RBIs, run) had a triple and three RBIs, while Dale Thomas (2-for-6, RBI, 2 runs, SB) and Graham Brown (1-for-4, HBP, RBI, 2 runs), and Billy Underwood (1-for-2, RBI) each drove in one run in the win.

The 17 runs for the Chants tied their season-high, as CCU hit .474 (9-for-19) with runners in scoring position and .438 (7-for-16) with two outs, while also taking advantage of five Cougar errors and a passed ball in the win.

For the Cougars offensively, nine different players had one base hit highlighted by a two-run home run from Patrick Sanchez (1-for-2, HR, 2 RBIs, run) and a solo shot by Will Baumhofer (1-for-2, HR, BB, RBI, 2 runs), while JT Marr (1-for-2, 2 RBIs, run) drove in two runs of his own in the loss.

Picking up his second career win and first since Opening Weekend was freshman pitcher Matthew Potok (2-0), as the righty entered the game in the first inning and threw 3.2-scoreless frames, scattering two hits and striking out one.

The rest of the bullpen in Riley Eikhoff (2.0 IP, 3 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K), Teddy Sharkey (2.0 IP, 1 hit, 2 ER, 1 BB), and Connor Kurki (1.0 IP, 2 K) did the rest in holding the Charleston offense to just three runs on four hits over the final five innings of the contest.

The loss fell to CofC starter Caswell Smith (1-1), as he was hit up for five runs, four of which were earned, on two hits, two walks, and a hit batter in 1.1 innings on the mound.

The Chanticleers struck first in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly by Tyler Johnson to take a 1-0 lead, only to see the Cougars start off the bottom half of the inning on back-to-back singles and a walk to load the bases.

CofC then got a two-run single to center from Marr to go up 2-1 just four hitters into the bottom half of the first inning. The Cougars added a pair of ground ball outs in the inning to score four in the first frame and take a 4-1 lead into the second inning.

Fortunately for the Chants, the scoring continued in the second inning. The visitors in teal blew in front of the Cougars with an eight-run second inning which saw Guangorena record a sacrifice fly and a two-run single in the inning, as the Chants sent 13 batters to the plate.

CCU also picked up an RBI-ground out by Eric Brown, a two-run single from Lucky, and an RBI single from both Graham Brown and Thomas in the second inning to pull out in front at 9-4.

Following a 1-2-3 inning by Potok on the mound in the bottom of the second, the Chanticleers’ torrid scoring pace continued with the help of a Cougars’ throwing error and back-to-back RBI-base hits from Eric Brown and Lucky to push the lead to seven at 11-4 midway through the third inning.

After a 6-4-3 inning-ending double play by the Chanticleers in the bottom of the second, the Chants kept their foot on the gas pedal at the plate. The visitors took advantage of three Cougar fielding errors and scored five more runs in the top of the fourth on a Guangorena two-run double, a bases-loaded triple off the bat of White, and an RBI-ground out by Eric Brown to put the score at 16-4.

The scoring came to a halt for both teams until the bottom of the sixth when the Cougars got a solo home run down the right-field line by Baumhofer to put the score at 16-5 with three innings to play.

Two innings later in the bottom of the eighth inning, the home team added a two-run home run to left field from Sanchez to cut the Chants’ lead to single digits. However, it was too little too late as the men in teal added a run in the top of the ninth on an RBI-single from Underwood to roll to a double-digit 17-7 road win.

Coastal will return to Sun Belt Conference action this weekend at No. 17/24 Georgia Southern (27-12, 14-4 SBC) on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, April 29-May 1.

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