Chants Score in Every Inning in 19-0 Blowout Win Over Texas State

CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina offense scored at least one run in every inning that it sent a Chanticleer hitter to the plate, while the pitching held Texas State to just five hits for the game in a 19-0 rout of the Bobcats on Friday night in the series opener at Springs Brooks Stadium.

The shutout win for the Chants is the first since CCU went on the road to defeat Arkansas State 4-0 last year on April 1, 2022.

CCU improved to 8-0 at home versus the Bobcats with the blowout win and to 11-0 when scoring double-digit runs for the game this season.

The Chants’ offense got production up and down the lineup, led by senior Zack Beach (1-for-4, grand slam, 4 RBIs, run), senior Graham Brown (3-for-5, HR, 2 2B, BB, 4 RBIS, 3 runs), and sophomore Derek Bender (1-for-3, HR, BB, 5 RBIs), who all homered and drove in multiple RBIs in the win.

Adding to that, super senior Nick Lucky (1-for-4, SF, BB, 3 RBIs, 2 runs) had three RBIs, while infielders Payton Eeles (2-for-4, HBP, RBI, 2 runs, SB), Dean Mihos (3-for-5, 2B, HBP, RBI, 3 runs, SB), and Ty Dooley (2-for-3, BB, 2 runs, SB) all had multiple hits and a stolen base each in the win.

For Texas State offensively, the Bobcats’ top two hitters in the lineup in Kameron Weil (2-for-4, 2B, BB) and Davis Powell (2-for-3, 2B) both had two base hits and one double apiece, while the other hit was a pinch-hit single by August Ramirez (1-for-1).

While the bats did their job, so did the Coastal arms, as Jacob Morrison (3-0), Jack Billings, John Kelly, and Will Smith combined to strikeout 16 hitters in the shutout win.

Morrison earned his third win of the season, as the freshman right-hander held the Bobcats to four hits and two walks, while striking out eight over 5.0-complete innings, which included fanning six hitters in a row.

Billings fired 2.0-scoreless frames, while both Kelly and Smith each had 1.0-scoreless inning in the book.

For the Bobcats it was a different story, as starter Levi Wells (4-1) was handed the loss. The righty gave up eight runs, seven of which were earned, on six hits, three walks, and just two strikeouts in 1.1 innings of work.

His fellow Bobcat pitchers didn’t fair any better, as all but one gave up two or more runs out of the bullpen in the loss.

The Chants finished the game with seven two-out RBIs and hit .462 (6-for-13) with two outs for the game. They also hit .467 (14-for-30) with runners on base, .435 (10-for-23) with runners in scoring position, and .750 (3-for-4) with the bases loaded.

After Morrison stranded two Bobcat base runners in the top of the first inning, the offense got to work in the bottom half of the inning, as Beach launched a grand slam over the fence in right-center field to put the Chants on top 4-0 after one inning.

Morrison followed with a shutdown inning in the top of the second inning in which he struck out the side, before Coastal doubled its lead at 8-0 with another four-run inning in the bottom of the second inning, highlighted by an Eeles RBI bunt single and a two-run double down the left-field line off the bat of Brown.

That was just the beginning, as the Chants’ offense tallied its third consecutive big inning with a five-run third on a two-run single by Lucky and a three-run blast over the 20-foot batter’s eye in straightaway center field by Bender to push the lead to 13-0 just three innings into the contest.

With Morrison cruising on the mound, the Chants added an RBI ground out from Bender in the bottom of the fourth and an RBI double by Mihos in the fifth to pull away even more at 15-0 with four innings to play.

Despite Morrison handing over the game to the bullpen, the Chants continued to add to their lead with Brown two-run home run deep into the night in the bottom of the sixth and a sacrifice fly by Lucky in the seventh to put the score at 18-0.

Coastal finished the scoring with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth by freshman Jake Books, his first career RBI to push the lead to 19-0.

Coastal (13-6, 3-1 Sun Belt) and Texas State (15-7, 2-2 Sun Belt) will play again tomorrow at 2 p.m. ET at Springs Brooks Stadium.