Coastal Carolina's Schnall Tossed in 7-2 Series-Clinching Win Over Georgia State
No. 7 Coastal Carolina (28-10, 15-2 SBC) secured another series victory in a nationally televised, 7–2 win over Georgia State (19-21, 7-10 SBC) on Saturday night at The Palace, as Ross Norman earned the win against his former team to help lift the Chanticleers to a 15–2 record against Sun Belt opponents.
Norman needed 20 pitches to work through the top of the first. After reaching on a single up the middle, center fielder John Beverley had swiped both second and third to apply pressure, taking an aggressive lead off third. But Norman had stayed composed, winning a 12-pitch battle with Hunter Carlson and finishing it with a changeup for the strikeout.
Senior Dean Mihos led off the bottom half with a walk, swiped second and third, and came around to score on an infield chopper by Walker Mitchell, who was retired at first, as Coastal took a 1–0 lead.
Georgia State tied the game in the top of the third inning as Beverley got his second hit of the game and drove in Willis Maginnis, who reached first on a single to left and advanced to second on a stolen base.
In the bottom half of the inning, shortstop Ty Barrango and Mihos drew walks before Blake Barthol reached on a bunt single to load the bases, giving Coastal an early chance to seize control.
Mitchell followed as he singled to left for his third RBI of the game, driving in Barrango and Mihos and moving Barthol to second as the Chanticleers extended their lead to 3–1.
With a chance to do some more damage, sophomore Rex Watson came up to the dish with two runners on and no outs.
Panthers starter Michael Caruso attempted to pick off Barthol at second, but skied the ball into center field to give Barthol and Mitchell a free ninety.
Watson then lined a single to center to score both runners and extend Coastal’s lead to 5-1.
In between innings, before Coastal came up to hit, Head Coach Kevin Schnall was ejected after an exchange with home plate umpire Shaylor Smith. Schnall’s last ejection had come in the bottom of the first inning of Game 2 of the College World Series finals against LSU on June 22, 2025.
When the Chanticleers came up to hit, Mihos led off the inning with a single up the middle and then advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Barthol.
With one out, Mitchell lined a ball into center for his second hit and fourth RBI of the night as Mihos scored from second to extend the lead to 6-1.
In the top of the sixth, Beverley tallied his third hit of the night off of Norman and stole second and third base for his fourth stolen base of the game and created another scoring threat for the Panthers.
A walk from senior Cole Griffith put runners on the corners with one out, prompting a mound visit from pitching coach Matt Williams and the end of Norman’s strong 5.2-inning outing, as the ball was handed to Coastal’s reliable senior right-hander Darin Horn.
Sam Silas dropped down a safety squeeze with one out to bring home Beverley from third, cutting the deficit to 6–2, but Horn responded by striking out Austin Killingsworth to end the inning and limit the Panthers to one run.
In the bottom of the seventh, with two outs, Barthol launched his third big fly of the season, forcing the end of Caruso’s night. Caruso allowed seven hits and seven runs while striking out seven on 104 pitches through 6.2 innings of work. The Chanticleers extended the lead, 7-2.
Horn closed out the game with the final three outs of the game and turned in another dominant outing, allowing no hits and no runs across 3.2 innings in the win.
Norman (5-3) earned the win against his former team while Panthers starter Caruso (4-5) was credited with the loss.
Barthol and Mitchell each delivered multi-hit games with two hits apiece and combined for five RBIs. Watson also added two RBIs on a single in the third.
Beverley recorded three of the team’s six hits and stole four bases in the loss, as the sophomore continues to be the Panthers’ top hitter and is now hitting .393 on the season.
The two programs will face off for the series finale on Sunday with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m., airing on ESPN+
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