CREDIT: Coastal Carolina Athletics
Coastal Carolina overcame an early deficit, scoring in six straight innings to snag a 15-7 series-opening victory against Georgia State on a picture-perfect night in Conway. The Chanticleers have taken 11 of the last 12 games against the Panthers and are a perfect 8-0 in series openers this season.
Adam Haber got the scoring started for Georgia State, brought home after a bases-loaded hit by pitch of Nick Garagozzo in the third inning put the Panthers up 1-0 early.
Georgia State would lean on the small ball to continue the scoring with a John Beverley sacrifice bunt to bring home Austin Sellers for his 18th run of the season. Back-to-back singles by Hunter Carlson and Sam Silas tacked on two more runs for the Panthers, ending the inning with a 4-0 lead.
Coastal Carolina answered back in the home half of the third inning, starting with a Walker Mitchell sacrifice to right field, bringing around Ty Barrango for the score and notching his first RBI of the game. The junior infielder finished the game 2-for-4 with one double and a season-high four RBIs.
The scoring would bleed over into the next two innings, with the Chanticleers tacking on 10 unanswered runs and jumping out to a 10-4 lead at the end of the fifth inning. Blake Barthol wrapped up the Chanticleer scoring run after a Nick Garagozzo fielding error brought him home, his first of two runs on the night.
Jackson Winer added onto the Chanticleer lead in the sixth inning with his third home run in his last two starts and pushed their lead up 12-5. The freshman has stepped into the designated hitter role over the last two games for Coastal Carolina, batting .500 with five RBIs and four runs.
Georgia State would show life in the seventh inning after Hunter Carlson launched his fifth home run of the season, bringing home John Beverley to make it a 12-7 ball game and cutting the Chanticleer lead down to five.
Coastal would add on two more runs off the bat of Walker Mitchell and give way to Chase Bosch in the final two innings, striking out three and sealing a 15-7 win for the Chanticleers.
Brian Crooms got the start for Georgia State, tossing 4 1/3 innings and allowing nine runs off nine hits while issuing three walks. The Panther defense was also responsible for three fielding errors that allowed two Coastal runs to cross the plate.
Despite giving up five runs for the second time this season, Luke Jones picked up his third win of the season after tossing six innings and striking out four. Jones has been a mainstay on Fridays since Cam Flukey went down earlier in the season with an injury.
Coastal Carolina will be back in action on Saturday night, going for the series victory on national television and looking to continue their conference series win streak.
Georgia State at #7 Coastal Carolina
First Pitch: Saturday, April. 18 at 7:00 p.m. EST
TV: ESPNU
Click here for information on tickets. Georgia State fans can also contact the ticket office at (404)-413-4020 or email the ticket office at tickets@gsu.edu
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