CONWAY, S.C. –
Graham Brown hit a walk-off single to left field to give the No. 20 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (7-2) a walk-off 8-7 win over the Liberty Flames on Saturday night at Springs Brooks Stadium.
With the Chanticleers trailing 7-5 in the bottom of the ninth, CCU's
Sam Antonacci led off the inning with a walk. A one-out single by
Blake Barthol, and
Derek Bender reaching via hit by pitch to loaded the bases for Coastal. Antonacci scored on a wild pitch to cut the lead to 7-6 and put runners on second and third. Brown then ripped a shot between the shortstop and third to score pinch runners
Corey Zientek and
Sebastian Alexander to walk off the Flames (5-4).
Coastal's
Trevor Hinkel (1-0) picked up his first win by going 2.0 innings, allowing one hit and one run while striking out two batters. Bender (2-for-3, BB, HBP, RBI), Antonacci (2-for-3, 2B, 3 Rs, BB, HBP, RBI),
Dean Mihos (2-for-3, 2B, R, RBI), and Brown (2-for-5, 3 RBIs) had multiple hits for the Chanticleers. Bender has reached base safely in all eight games he has played.
Liberty's Cole Hertzler (1-1) got the loss in 2.2 innings of work, allowing two hits and three runs. Aidan Sweatt (2-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBIs), Cam Foster (2-for-3, 2 HR, 2 Rs, 3 RBIs), and Tanner Marsh (2-for-3, 2 2B) led the offense for the Flames.
The Chanticleers jumped on the scoreboard first in the bottom half of the first inning as Bender drove in Antonacci with a single up the middle. However, the visitors responded in the top of the second with solo home runs by Sweatt and Foster to take a 2-1 lead. Liberty added four runs in the top of the third as Sweatt doubled down the right field line to score Camden Troyer and scored on a sacrifice fly by Foster. Brian McClellin hit a two-run blast to cap the scoring and increase the Flames lead to 6-1.
Coastal responded as
Zack Beach led off the home half of the fourth inning with a double and scored easily on a Mihos single to left field after reaching third on a wild pitch. CCU added two in the bottom of the fifth as Antonacci scored on a wild pitch and Brown singled to center to score Barthol to make the score 6-4. The Chants cut the deficit to 6-5 on an Antonacci sacrifice fly to right center to score Mihos in the sixth inning.
However, Liberty would push its lead to 7-5 on Foster's second home run of the game before the late-game heroics by Brown and the top of the Chanticleer lineup.
Coastal Carolina will host Liberty in a doubleheader on Sunday, March 3, beginning at 1 p.m. ET at Springs Brooks Stadium. The games 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.
