Chanticleers Season Ends at Clemson Regional - Coastal Carolina University Athletics (2024)

CLEMSON, S.C. – The Coastal Carolina Chanticleers' season ended on Sunday evening as the Chants knocked the High Point Panthers out of the NCAA Clemson Regional before falling to host and the No. 6 nationally-ranked Clemson Tigers in the regional championship.

The loss to the Tigers was the last collegiate game in the legendary career of Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore.

Game 1: Coastal Carolina 6, High Point 5
Coastal struck first in the bottom of the first inning as Sam Antonacci led off with a single and Caden Bodine walked to set the table for a three-run homer off the bat of Derek Bender. High Point responded in the top of the second with a solo home run to trim Coastal's lead to 3-1, but Chanticleer starter Oliver Ellison scattered four hits over the next three innings to keep CCU's two-run advantage.
The Panthers pulled within one in the top of the sixth on a fielder's choice, but the Chants answered in the bottom of the inning when Dean Mihos reached on a bunt single and advanced to second on a throwing error. Corey Zientek's sacrifice bunt moved Mihos to third before Ty Barrango drove a fly ball to right field to score Mihos and put Coastal up 4-2 with three innings left to play.
Coastal fell behind in the top of the seventh as High Point plated three runs to take its first lead at 5-4. In the bottom of the seventh, Graham Brown singled to lead off the inning and Bodine put the Chanticleers back in front with a two-run blast to right field.
High Point threatened in the top of the ninth, putting runners on first and second with two outs before a ground ball to third base ended the game and punched the Chants' ticket to their third regional championship game in as many years.

Andrew Bowers (2-0) earned the win in relief for Coastal, tossing a pair of shutout innings while allowing three hits with one strikeout. Bryce Shaffer induced the game-ending groundout to earn his first save of the season, while Ellison surrendered just one run on seven hits with no walks and two strikeouts in 4.2 innings of work.

Game 2: Coastal Carolina 6, Clemson 12
The Chants fell behind in the bottom of the first as Clemson's first two batters reached via hit by a pitch and a walk before Blake Wright singled through the left side to score Aidan Mathes from second. Jimmy Obertop followed with a fielder's choice to plate Jake Hinderleider to make the score 2-0.

In the second inning, Coastal answered with three straight singles by Blake Barthol, Mihos, and Zack Beach as the Chants cut the deficit in half at 2-1. The Tigers answered in home half of the frame as Nolan Nawrocki scored on a Chanticleer miscue to take a 3-1 lead.

Clemson added a run in the third and fourth innings to make the score 5-1 before CCU responded in the fifth with a leadoff double by Beach who scored on Sam Antonacci's single to left field to make the score 5-2. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Tigers loaded the bases with one out before Nawrocki drew a walk to force in Cam Cannarella for a 6-2 lead.

After two scoreless innings, Coastal Carolina scored three runs as Antonacci singled to center field and Bodine belted a two-run home run to right center, followed by Bender hitting his second home run of the day to pull within one at 6-5.

Clemson exploded for six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to put the game out of reach as the Tigers had 10 batters come to the plate. Cannarella opened the home half of the inning with a solo shot to right center after a Chanticleer error Crighton singled up the middle to score Obertop. After loading the bases, Mathes doubled to right center to put runners on second and third before Jacob Hinderleider doubled to score both runners for the final score of 12-5.

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.