Clemson, SC: Lost in a bird’s-eye view of the stretch run for Coastal baseball is how well the Chanticleers began the 2024 campaign. CCU won 17 of its first 20 games, scoring double figures in eleven of those outings. On Friday, the Chanticleers rediscovered some of that “Gilly” magic.
Third-seeded Coastal Carolina scored five runs in the second inning and three in the fourth to effectively end their first-round matchup with the two-seed Vanderbilt in the Clemson Regional at Doug Kingsmore Stadium. The Chanticleers tacked on five insurance runs in the 8th to cruise to a 13-3 victory in front of 5,403 fans on a sun-splashed Friday afternoon in the Upstate.
The win advances CCU into the winner’s bracket, where they’ll play either top-seeded Clemson or the #4-seed High Point on Saturday afternoon at 5 p.m. The Commodores, who won the Clemson Regional in 2017 and 2018, will have to fight through the loser’s bracket starting on Saturday at noon.
While Coastal’s offense grabbed the spotlight, it was Riley Eikhoff’s performance on the mound that made the difference. The redshirt junior tossed 5 1/3 scoreless innings before giving up a solo home run to Commodores’ catcher Alan Espinal in the sixth. That was the only run Eikhoff allowed while sprinkling four hits in six innings and striking out three.
Meanwhile, Vanderbilt head coach Tim Corbin may spend the night rethinking his pitching decisions for the regional opener. The veteran coach opted to run out sophomore left-hander JD Thompson against the Chanticleers instead of Bryce Cunningham, who has been the team’s Friday starter for most of the season. Though Thompson has been Vanderbilt’s best pitcher down the stretch, helping lead the team to wins over Kentucky and Tennessee, he had a rough outing against CCU. He lasted just 3 2/3 innings, giving up eight earned runs on six hits over 77 pitches. The sophomore left-hander struck out five and walked two.
Caden Bodine led the Coastal attack, rapping out three base hits and driving in two. Sam Antonacci smashed a two-run home run, while Zack Beach and Derek Bender each had three RBI’s.