Chants After Dark: CCU rolls past Fairfield 10-2 to set up a matchup with ECU (AUDIO)

Conway, SC: It appears that “Mother Nature” may be the only thing that can slow down the Coastal Carolina baseball team at this point. Heavy rains and wind pushed through Conway on Friday night before the start of CCU’s matchup with Fairfield in the NCAA Conway Regional. However, this only postponed the inevitable.

Following a four-and-a-half-hour weather delay, Cameron Flukey and the Chanticleers beat the Stags 10-2 to advance into the winner’s bracket against East Carolina. The win was Coastal’s 19th straight and improved the Chanticleers to 2-0 all-time against Fairfield. ECU steamrolled Florida 11-6 earlier in the day to push the Gators to the brink of elimination from the tournament. Florida and Fairfield will meet at 3pm on Saturday, prior to CCU and ECU.

Game Story Courtesy of CCU Media Relations: Cameron Flukey struck out nine across seven strong innings and No. 13 Coastal Carolina used a pair of multi-run innings to pull away from Fairfield, 10-2, in a weather-delayed NCAA Conway Regional matchup that ended early Saturday morning at Springs Brooks Stadium.

Originally scheduled for 6 p.m., first pitch was pushed back to 10:37 p.m. due to severe weather in the Conway area. Despite the late start, the Chanticleers (49-11) remained sharp at the plate and on the mound, securing a 1-0 start in regional play.

The Chants jumped out early, scoring in each of the first two innings. Ty Dooley hit a solo home run in the fourth to make it 4-0 before Coastal blew the game open with a four-run sixth that featured a string of Fairfield miscues and RBI hits from Walker Mitchell and Blake Barthol.

Dooley finished 2-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI, including a double. Colby Thorndyke launched an opposite-field, solo home run in the seventh, and Blagen Pado tripled, walked and scored twice to lead a balanced Coastal offense.

Flukey (7-1) allowed just three hits and two runs over seven innings, throwing 99 pitches. Hayden Johnson and Jaxon Appelman each tossed a scoreless frame to close out the win.

Fairfield (39-18) was limited to three hits. Nolan Colby’s solo homer in the sixth and Tyler Kipp’s RBI single in the fifth accounted for the Stags’ only scoring. Ben Alekson (9-2) suffered the loss despite allowing only three earned runs over 5.1 innings.

Box Score

CCU HC Kevin Schnall, Cameron Flukey, and Ty Dooley — NCAA Postgame