Chanticleers Downs College of Charleston 12-4 on Wednesday Night

CONWAY, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina offense hit four home runs and scored five runs in the eighth inning to pull away with a 12-4 non-conference midweek win over the College of Charleston on Wednesday night at Springs Brooks Stadium.

The win pushed No. 8/10 Coastal to 24-11 overall and put the Chants at 19-0 on the season when scoring 10 runs or more for the contest.

The loss dropped the College of Charleston to 22-14 on the season.

The Coastal offense again was clutch with runners on base, as the Chants hit .444 (8-for-18) with runners on base and .400 (4-for-10) with runners in scoring position. In contrast, the Charleston offense hit just .133 (2-for-15) with runners on base and just .091 (1-for-11) with runners in scoring position for the game.

Senior outfielder Graham Brown (2-for-3, HR, BB, HBP, 4 RBIs, 2 runs, 2 SB) matched his career high with four RBIs and again hit a home run, his 11th of the season. Not to be outdone, sophomore designated hitter Derek Bender (2-for-5, HR, 3 RBIs, run) hit a three-run home run to give him a team-leading 12 home runs on the season.

Also homering for the Chants on Wednesday night was both Chad Born (2-for-5, HR, 2B, RBI, 2 runs) and Caden Bodine (2-for-2, HR, 3 BB, 2 RBIs, runs), while Ty Dooley (2-for-4, HBP, 2 RBIs, run, SB) drove in two RBIs.

Charleston’s offense was led by one RBI each from Joseph Mershon (1-for-5, HR, RBI, run), Khyree Miller (0-for-4, RBI, 2 SB), and Isaiah Rainge (1-for-4, RBI), while JT Marr (2-for-3, HBP, run, SB) had a team-high two base hits.

Picking up the win on the mound for the Chants was reliever Will Smith (3-1), as the righty entered the game in the fourth inning and gave up just one unearned run on two hits, one walk, and two strikeouts over 2.0 innings out of the bullpen.

Fellow relievers Darin Horn (3.0 IP, 1 hit, 1 BB, 4 K) and Bryce Shaffer (1.0 IP, 2 K) followed with a combined 4.0-scoreless innings in the win.

The loss went to CofC starter Jake Brink (2-1), which was his first defeat of the season. The right-handed pitcher gave up five runs on four hits, four walks, a hit batter, and three strikeouts in 3.0 innings of work.

The Men in Teal took the lead early in the contest on a two-run home run off the bat of Bodine just three batters into the bottom of the first inning to go up 2-0 after one inning of play.

After the Cougars hit a solo home run in the top of the third inning and plated three runs in the top of the fourth frame with the help of a wild pitch, an error, and an RBI single by Rainge to put the visitors in gray in front at 4-2 midway through the fourth inning.

However, the Cougars’ lead did not last for long, as in the next half inning Born hit a solo home run to left field and then retook the lead on a two-run single to left field off the bat of Brown to put the home team in front 5-4 heading into the fifth inning.

Brown struck again in the bottom of the sixth inning, as he hit a two-run home run clear out of Springs Brooks Stadium to extend the lead to 7-4 with three innings left in the contest.

While the offense kept adding runs, the pitching settled in as the Coastal bullpen stranded two Cougar runners in the fifth, pitched a 1-2-3 sixth, and stranded one runner in each of the seventh and eighth innings to keep the score at 7-4.

The offense blew the game open in the bottom half of the eighth inning, adding five insurance runs on a three-run home run by Bender and a two-run single from Dooley to put the final score at 12-4.

Nationally-ranked No. 8/10 Coastal (24-11, 11-4 Sun Belt) will host nationally-ranked No. 23/24 Southern Miss (22-13, 10-5 Sun Belt) for a top-25 three-game Sun Belt Conference weekend series this weekend, April 21-23, in Springs Brooks Stadium.