No. 14 Coastal Carolina (21-7, 9-0 SBC) aims to remain undefeated in conference play as it takes on South Alabama (18-11, 5-4 SBC) in a three-game series beginning on Thursday at 6 p.m. at Springs Brooks Stadium. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
The Chanticleers are coming off a 3-2 win over The Citadel on Tuesday night, using a late-inning push and a dominant start from Jaxon Appelman to secure the team’s eighth victory in a row.
Appelman delivered a career-best performance on the mound, tossing six hitless innings while allowing just one earned run and striking out eight. As a staff, Coastal limited the Bulldogs to just two hits.
Trailing 1-0 in the sixth, the Chanticleers answered as Rex Watson hit a solo home run to right field—his team-leading ninth of the season—to tie the game at 1-1. Watson finished the night with two of Coastal Carolina’s four hits.
In the bottom of the seventh, Bulldogs outfielder Christian Stratis reached on a fielding error by Chanticleer second baseman Blake Barthol, which scored a run to give The Citadel a 2-1 lead.
Coastal answered in the ninth inning. Cruz Harlan raced home on a wild pitch to tie the game at 2-2. Moments later, Dean Mihos delivered the decisive blow, driving in Colby Thorndyke for the go-ahead run, who reached on a throwing error earlier in the inning and advanced to second on a stolen base.
Freshman left-hander Colby Richardson earned the win in relief, while Scott Doran picked up the save by recording the final three outs to secure the win.
South Alabama scored one run on six hits in a setback against the New Orleans Privateers in their midweek contest on Tuesday night.
The Jaguars opened the scoring in the second inning when Rett Johnson drove a ball into the right-center gap for a double, bringing home Paxton Bigby. Mike Young was thrown out at the plate attempting to score on the play.
The Privateers scored two runs in the top of the fourth inning on a pair of RBI hits. Those runs proved to be the difference, as Jaguar starter Hayden O’Dell allowed just two runs over five innings while striking out four and was credited with the loss.
New Orleans cycled through seven arms on the mound, with six delivering scoreless outings. South Alabama’s bullpen was equally effective, as four relievers combined to keep the Privateers off the board.
Luke Jones (1-1) will get the start for the Chanticleers after a rough outing in the first game of the series last weekend against Marshall, where he allowed seven hits and five earned runs across 3.0 innings.
Jones currently carries a 3.78 ERA through seven starts and allows opposing hitters an average of .252 as he aims to bounce back in the series opener.
Mitchell Heer (4-0) will be on the bump for the Jaguars. The 2025 Second Team All-Sun Belt selection owns a 4.08 ERA across 39.2 innings pitched. His previous outing came against Old Dominion last weekend, where he allowed seven hits and three runs while striking out seven in the 10-3 win.
The last matchup between the two programs came in May 2023, when the Chanticleers won 16-10. Coastal has won the last four contests against South Alabama and looks to remain undefeated in conference play this season.
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