CONWAY, S.C. – Blake Barthol's eighth-inning grand slam gave the No. 16 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers a walk-off 12-1 Sun Belt Conference win on Friday night in Conway at Springs Brooks Stadium. The Chanticleers have pushed their winning streak to 15 consecutive games.
 
CCU's Alexander Meckley (3-0) picked up his third win of the season, going 7.0 innings and allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts. Chanticleer reliever Henry Weycker pitched 1.0 inning, giving up no runs and no hits while striking out one batter to earn his first save of the season. The Dukes' Jaden Kinsler (3-1) gave up four runs on five hits with 11 strikeouts with the JMU bullpen giving up the rest.
 
Both starting pitchers were on fire through the first three innings, as CCU's Meckley allowed just one walk and JMU's Kinsler allowed one hit by pitch and one walk with no damage done to either team.
 
The Chanticleers (16-2, 1-0 SBC) opened the scoring in the bottom of the fourth as Barthol (2-for-4, 2 HR, 2 R, 5 RBIs) hit the first pitch he saw over the left-center field wall to put Coastal up 1-0. Caden Bodine (2-for-3, 2B, HR, 2 R, 2 RBIs) added a one-out solo blast to the same location to give the Chants a 2-0 lead.
 
James Madison (12-6, 0-1 SBC) cut the lead in half at 2-1 in the top of the fifth, as Brendan O'Donnell sent a 2-1 pitch to right center. The Dukes' Kinsler used the home run to fuel the momentum by striking out the side.
 
After Coastal's Meckley worked around a two-out walk in the sixth, Bodine doubled down the right field line to score Sam Antonacci (1-for-3, 2 R) easily from second, and Derek Bender who scored on a fielding error by the Dukes' right fielder to make the score 4-1 in the bottom of the inning.
 
Coastal's Weycker took the mound and gave up a leadoff walk before settling down to get a 1-3 sacrifice bunt out, a ground out to Bodine, and a strikeout to send the Chants back to the plate. CCU's Barthol led off the inning by being hit by a pitch and advanced to third on Bender's single down the right-field line. Bodine was intentionally walked to load the bases and was followed by Zack Beach's grand slam doubled the Chants' lead to 8-1.
 
The Dukes turned a double 5-4-3 double play before walking the next three batters to bring Barthol back to the plate for the second time in the inning. Barthol smacked the Chants' second grand slam in the inning to walk off JMU 12-1.
 
Coastal Carolina and James Madison will meet for game two on Saturday, March 16, at Springs Brooks Stadium with a 2 p.m. ET scheduled first pitch. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.
 
For complete coverage of CCU baseball, follow the Chants on social media @CoastalBaseball (Twitter), facebook.com/CCUChanticleers (Facebook), @GoCCUsports (Instagram), or visit the official home of Coastal Carolina Athletics at www.GoCCUsports.com.