CONWAY, S.C. — Coastal Carolina capitalized on early command issues and beat Appalachian State 19-3 in Game 1 of their Sun Belt Conference series Thursday.
Mike Koenig's second-inning grand slam with two away sent home three baserunners who had reached without recording a hit, and Zach Biermann followed a third-inning walk with a three-run homer that put the Chanticleers ahead 8-0.
Coastal Carolina (29-22-1, 14-12) led 12-0 before
Drew Beck singled with one out in the seventh, moved to second on
Hayden Cross' walk and scored on an RBI single from
Alex Leshock, who went 2-for-2.
The Chanticleers added two more homers in a seven-run seventh that pushed the lead to 19-1. After
Andrew Terrell was hit by a pitch in the eighth inning, fellow App State freshman
Dalton Williams pulled a two-run homer down the right-field line, giving him two homers on the season.
Tyler Leek,
Phillip Cole and
Riley Smith also had hits for the Mountaineers (21-29, 12-15). Currently ninth in the league, they can clinch a berth in next week's 10-team Sun Belt Championships with a win or Arkansas State loss on Friday.
App State's final regular-season series resumes at 6 p.m. with
Brandon Boone (5-3) scheduled to start on the mound.
Tyler Tuthill,
Austin Primm,
Cam Roberts and
Evan Mauldin pitched for App State on Thursday.
Kieton Rivers drew a leadoff walk for Coastal Carolina in the second inning, but App State responded with a timely double play as Tuthill struck out Biermann and Smith threw out the speedy Rivers to erase a steal attempt for the 15th time this season. A hit by pitch and back-to-back walks loaded the bases for Koenig, who homered to left field.
A leadoff double preceded Jake Wright's RBI single in the third, and Rivers' walk on a 3-2 pitch set up Biermann's homer to right.
App State batters struck out 17 times, with Coastal Carolina starter Anthony Veneziano posting nine strikeouts while allowing no runs on three hits in five innings. Nick Parker struck out six batters over the next three innings.
App State Baseball would like to thank AutoStar Nissan of Boone for serving as the presenting sponsor of the 2019 season.
