They scored how many runs? Coastal Carolina routs LIU Brooklyn in NCAA opener

Coastal Carolina lived up to its billing as a regional host Friday night.

The Chanticleers scored five runs in both the fourth and fifth innings and cruised to a 16-1 win over LIU Brooklyn in its opener in the NCAA Conway Regional at Springs Brooks Stadium.

Coastal (42-17) will face Washington (32-24) in the winner’s bracket game at 5 p.m. Saturday, while LIU Brooklyn (31-25) will attempt to stay alive in the regional in the noon elimination game against Connecticut.

Washington, the third seed in the regional, defeated second-seeded Connecticut 7-1 Friday afternoon and has the lowest earned-run average in the regional at less than 3.60.

“Watching them play today and watching them execute, the things they did and the way they pitch, they’re a handful,” Coastal coach Gary Gilmore said. “This will be two heavyweights going at it tomorrow night. . . . Tomorrow will be a huge step for us again because they will force us to execute at a premium level.”

Sophomore lefthanded starter Anthony Veneziano threw seven shutout innings and the Chants got home runs from Seth Lancaster, Kieton Rivers and Kyle Skeels in Friday’s blowout win.

The 15-run margin of victory is Coastal’s second largest this season behind a 19-3 win over Wake Forest and matches the season-opening 17-2 win over Virginia Tech.

Friday night’s attendance of 3,736 is the third largest in Springs Brooks Stadium history, behind only the 4,130 that purchased tickets for this year’s game against Clemson and 3,777 early in 2017 against Western Carolina when the team celebrated its 2016 national championship.

“To be here at home in Conway, and have Conway friends and family to come out and support, that’s just fantastic, we appreciate them,” Rivers said.

Veneziano (7-1) allowed just three hits and walked three while striking out six and threw 102 pitches in his seven innings.

“The key to the game for me was Anthony being able to go out there and give us the outing he gave us,” Gilmore said. “It was huge to go seven innings and put up zeros the whole the time. There wasn’t any point in time where you remotely thought he was in trouble.”

Veneziano, who lowered his earned-run average to 3.41, also started Coastal’s opener in the Sun Belt Conference Championship and threw five shutout innings against Texas-Arlington.

“A lot of it has to do with preparation,” Veneziano said. “I’ve been preparing for these starts a lot more than I have during the season. I kind of let myself slide a little bit during the season I feel like. Now that the preparation is there, no matter what the outcome is I’m content with it.”

The Hackettstown, N.J., native hit LIU’s Andrew Smith on the second pitch of the game before getting a strikeout, pop out and caught stealing, as Matt Beaird threw out Smith at second.

“It was definitely kind of like a moment where you sit back and relax and know the game is going now and it’s time to figure out where to throw the pitches, I guess in a way,” Veneziano said of hitting Smith. “Once I got through that, the rest of the game it was pretty much smooth sailing.”

Rivers set a career high with five RBI, knocking in two runs with a double off the left field wall in the fourth and three with his fifth homer of the season in the fifth, a deep blast that went well over the left field fence.

“I remember back in 2016 watching those guys playing the regional and just thinking to myself I want to be a part of this, and now I finally get an opportunity for myself,” Rivers said. “This is just a great experience, a good opportunity, and I’m happy to be a part of it.”

Coastal, which is third in the nation in bases on balls, drew 10 walks Friday, including five from lefthanded starter Patrick Clyne, allowing the Chants to score their 16 runs on 14 hits. LIU Brooklyn also made three errors and misplayed a couple other opportunities.

“Coastal is a very good club with a strong lineup, a very dynamic lineup, and when we walk them 10 times and give them three errors and some non-plays out there we’re not going to have a lot of success,” Blackbirds coach Dan Pirillo said.

LIU Brooklyn, the Northeast Conference tournament champions, played just 15 games against teams in the top 100 of the RPI this season, with no games against the top 50.

“It was good to get the first win under our belt to kind of just take this game and use it as preparation for what’s to come,” Rivers said.

Clyne paid for a pair of walks leading off the second inning to Lee Sponseller and Parker Chavers, as both runners scored. Sponseller scored on an error on the throw to first by Clyne on a sacrifice bunt by Keaton Weisz, and Beaird executed a sacrifice squeeze bunt to plate Chavers.

LIU Brooklyn had two runners on with no outs in the fourth following an Edward Modica double off the left-center wall and Luis Arias walk. But Dom Paiotti popped up a bunt attempt toward shortstop and third-baseman Weisz made a diving catch and doubled Modica off second.

“Having Keaton right there, that was a big play,” Veneziano said. “You had first and second with nobody out, and for him to get a double play like that just kind of took all the pressure off.”

Coastal broke the game open in the fourth. Beaird singled into right field with one out, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a soft line drive single by Cory Wood off the glove of leaping second baseman Anthony Warneke. Lancaster then hit a 3-2 pitch over the right-center fence for his team-leading 20th home run of the season.

Kevin Woodall Jr. and Zach Biermann walked and Rivers hit a two-run double off the wall in left field to give Coastal a 7-0 lead. The five in the fifth came on a Beaird walk, RBI double slapped down the left field line by Wood, RBI single lined into right by Biermann, Woodall walk and Rivers’ homer.

In his first at-bat since April 22 because of an injury to the hamate bone in his left hand, Skeels pinch-hit for Beaird in the seventh and hit a three-run homer to left-center. He caught the remainder of the game, giving Gilmore hope that Skeels, who is batting .312, may be available for more action this weekend.

“I feel a lot more confident to use him now than I was an hour ago,” Gilmore said after the game. “He had taken batting practice for two days and I really had no idea what a real swing in a real game where he had to really torque and quick twitch [would do].”

Pirillo came away impressed with the Chants.

“That lineup is strong,” Pirillo said. “There aren’t many free outs in that lineup. They can bunt, they can hit the ball for power, they hit to both sides of the field. We tried shifting a little bit and they hit the ball the other way.

“Beaird did a great job catching. He’s a great catcher. When you see an Omaha team you see a guy who can really manage a staff. He did a really good job back there and he has thrown out a lot of guys out this year. I can see them making another run.”

This story was originally published June 1, 2018 at 9:25 PM with the headline "They scored how many runs? Coastal Carolina routs LIU Brooklyn in NCAA opener."