Coastal Carolina takes care of business in NCAA regional opener

Connor Owings has enjoyed a prolific senior season that has earned him a well-deserved collection of accolades and a place in Coastal Carolina baseball history, and so there was no one better suited to step to the plate for the Chanticleers in the most pivotal moment of their NCAA regional opener Friday.

The Chants had struggled early against Saint Mary’s ace Corbin Burnes, but a hit by pitch and two walks in the bottom of the third inning gave the offense a prime opportunity to change that. After Burnes got Michael Paez to pop up in the infield for the second out, it then fell on Owings to decide if they would or not.

The Chants’ reigning Big South Player of the Year and the Gaels’ potential first-round draft pick dueled to a full count and beyond before Owings smacked the ninth pitch into right-center to plate two runs and seemingly change the momentum of the game all at once.

No. 2-seeded Coastal Carolina led the rest of the way while finishing off a 5-2 win over No. 3-seed St. Mary’s in the opener of the four-team, double-elimination NCAA Raleigh Regional at NC State’s Doak Field.

“I thought Connor’s at-bat was probably a game-changer for us, to be honest,” Chants coach Gary Gilmore said afterward.

The Chants (45-15) have now won their last 11 games and will play Saturday night against host NC State (36-20), which defeated Navy, 13-8, in its opening game.

This marks the first time Coastal Carolina has won its regional opener since defeating Connecticut in the 2011 tournament, though that team didn’t make it out of the four-team bracket. These Chants, meanwhile, are hoping to send the program to its first NCAA super regional appearance since 2010.

And Friday was certainly an encouraging start.

“We focused on the game at hand and that was the first game of this regional. When we stick with the process good things happen, and you saw that today,” junior right-hander Andrew Beckwith said.

St. Mary’s (33-24), making its first ever NCAA regional appearance, had struck first with an Anthony Gonsolin solo home run off Beckwith in the top of the first inning, and early on it looked like the teams were headed for a low-scoring duel as the much-ballyhooed Burnes cruised through the first two innings while allowing only an infield single.

He then started the bottom of the third with his fourth strikeout of the game, but he followed by plunking Seth Lancaster and walking Matt Beaird and Anthony Marks in succession to load the bases. And when Owings delivered that two-out, two-run single a couple batters later, it just seemed to take the pressure off the Coastal Carolina hitters.

“That kid had tremendous stuff, unbelievable life on his fastball and he was throwing his offspeed pitches for strikes. ... I just really was trying to battle,” Owings said. “He kind of left a pitch over the middle of the plate and I was able to drive it into right. That was a big at-bat for us right there in that part of the game.”

Said Gilmore: “The whole key to hitting is when you get the pitch that you’re looking for, you just don’t miss it. And this season he hasn’t missed many of them. That was a huge at-bat in that inning to win that battle against the pitcher. It’s an emotional thing as much as anything. Physically to throw nine pitches and then you give up a hit to give up two runs and lose the lead, it was a huge moment in the game.”

The Chants made it a 3-1 game in the fourth after singles by G.K. Young and Billy Cooke and an RBI sacrifice bunt by Lancaster.

In the fifth, Marks reached on an error, Paez doubled off the left field wall and then things really unraveled for the Gaels. Marks came racing home on a wild pitch to make it 4-1, and Owings then struck out swinging on another wild pitch but reached base safely on the errant third strike while Paez scored to make it 5-1.

That would be more than enough offense and ended Burnes’ day after 4 2/3 innings. It was his second shortest start of the season as he ended up allowing five hits, two walks and five runs (four earned) with eight strikeouts.

Beckwith, meanwhile, had kept the Gaels scoreless since that first inning home run before yielding a two-out RBI single to Nate Nolan in the top of the sixth.

He left after throwing 6 2/3 innings, allowing six hits, one walk and two runs (one earned) with three strikeouts to improve his record to 11-1.

Bobby Holmes closed out the game with 2 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing only one hit while racking up five strikeouts and keeping the rest of the bullpen fresh for Saturday.

Offensively, Cooke finished 3-for-4, Young was 2-for-4 with a run and Paez was 2-for-4 with a run.

As for Owings, his two-run single would be his only hit of the game, but it was a big one.

“This is my third time playing in a regional and that was the first time we’ve won the opening [game]. That was very big for us,” Owings said. “We’ve still got one of our best [pitchers Alex] Cunningham, and [Mike] Morrison will be able to throw tomorrow night so that’s huge for us.”

This story was originally published June 3, 2016 at 4:55 PM with the headline "Coastal Carolina takes care of business in NCAA regional opener."