No. 16 Coastal Carolina takes on No. 12 Wake Forest in a top-25 midweek showdown Tuesday night in Conway, SC, airing on ESPN+.
The Chanticleers earned a dramatic 10–6 walk-off win over East Carolina on Friday night, highlighted by Rex Watson’s walk-off grand slam in the 10th inning—his first home run as a Chanticleer. Coastal built an early lead behind RBIs from Walker Mitchell and strong pitching from Luke Jones, who tossed a career-high 6.2 innings, allowing just one run. After East Carolina scored five runs in the eighth to take a late lead, Blake Barthol tied the game with a two-out, two-RBI infield single before Watson’s grand slam sealed the victory in extras.
On Saturday afternoon, Watson came through in a big moment again, blasting a go-ahead three-run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 1-1 tie and lift the Chanticleers to a 7-1 victory over the Pirates.
Watson’s three-run home run gave the Chanticleers a 4-1 lead. Coastal continued to add on insurance in the inning. Texas transfer Cole Chamberlain doubled to score Colby Thorndyke and extend the lead to 5-1. Brice Estep later capped the six-run inning with a two-run home run to push the Chanticleers’ lead to 7-1.
The offensive outburst gave enough support for the starter Ross Norman, who delivered an outstanding performance on the mound, where he tossed a career-high eight innings, allowing just one run on four hits while striking out four.
Coastal wrapped up their weekend falling short to the Pirates 10-4 in a weather-shortened series finale on Sunday afternoon. The game entered a delay in the seventh inning and did not resume due to inclement weather. The contest was declared official after six complete innings.
Watson continued his hot streak at the plate, blasting his third home run in three games to the opposite field. Estep also continued his hot streak, hitting a home run for the second consecutive game.
East Carolina jumped to an early 2-0 advantage through two innings before tacking on six more runs in the third. Scott Doran was charged with the loss as Coastal Carolina moved to 9-6 on the season.
The Wake Forest Demon Deacons are 15-1 and swept their first conference series of the season against Stanford, fueled by an offensive explosion, totaling 33 runs in three games. The Demon Deacons have not lost since the first game of the season against Houston in Puerto Rico.
Wake Forest completed the series sweep with a pair of wins on Saturday afternoon, securing a 12-9 win in the first game and a 14-10 win in game two.
Sophomore right fielder Luke Costello powered the Demon Deacons offensively in both contests as he combined four hits on seven at-bats with three home runs, nine RBIs and crossed the plate five times.
Dalton Wentz added four hits and two RBIs over the two games, contributing the most damage in the second game of the doubleheader as he went 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two RBIs.
Entering the midweek riding a 15-game win streak, the Deamon Deacons are one of just six teams in all of Division 1 with a streak of 10 or more games.
The offense ranks 27th nationally in team batting average, maintaining a .316 average, led by Jackson Miller, Kade Lewis, Dalton Wentz, Javar Williams and Luke Costello who are all hitting over .350.
Through 16 games, the Demon Deacons’ pitching staff ranks at the top nationally in strikeouts per nine innings (14.5) through 136.0 innings of work.
A Coastal Carolina offense that has struggled early in the season with striking out aims to make competitive plate appearances against a tough Wake Forest bullpen.
The Demon Deacons seek to keep their bats rolling and extend their win streak in the top-25 matchup Tuesday at 6 p.m.
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