GREENVILLE, N.C. (AP) — No. 9 batter Matt McDermott hit for the cyle and Coastal Carolina held off Coppin State 8-6 on Saturday in an elimination game at the Greenville Regional.
Coastal Carolina (37-19-1) will play the loser of Saturday’s nightcap between No. 8 overall seed East Carolina and Virginia in an elimination game Sunday morning.
The Chanticleers pulled away from a 2-2 tie with three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Graham Brown had an RBI double and they added runs on a fielding error and an RBI ground out by Austin White. Chris Rowan Jr. hit a solo homer in the fifth and McDermott followed suit in the sixth. McDermott’s two-run triple in the seventh left Coastal Carolina leading 10-2 and completed the first Coastal Carolina cycle in a dozen years.
The Eagles’ bats caught fire in the top of the ninth against reliever Connor Kurki. Sebastien Sarabia and Tyler Lloyd sandwiched singles around a walk to Marcos Castillo to load the bases. Pinch-hitter Toran Smith was hit by a pitch to force in a run. Castillo scored on a wild pitch with one out and Lloyd scored when Matt Day struck out on a wild pitch but reached first base safely.
Colin Yablonski took over for Kurki and induced a popup by Wellington Balsley for the second out. Josh Hankins followed with a three-run home run to get Coppin State (24-30) within two runs. Jacob Maton replaced Yablonski and hit Jordan Hamberg before surrendering a single to Sarabia. A ground ball by Castillo resulted in a force-out at third base to end the game.
McDermott had a single in the third inning and a double in the fourth. Elliot Carney (2-1) got the win for the Chanticleers with 3 2/3 innings of scoreless relief. He allowed two hits and two walks, striking out five.
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