After overnight delay, Chanticleers close out big win over Wolfpack

The Coastal Carolina players said it was hard to sleep Saturday night, understandably, as they were just three outs from moving on to the finals of their NCAA regional when play was halted at 12:31 a.m., due to lightning.

After getting at least some rest, the Chanticleers resumed play with host NC State 12 hours later, promptly added another run to their lead in the top of the ninth inning and then finally closed out a 4-0 victory over the Wolfpack in the winners bracket matchup at Doak Field on Sunday.

The No. 2-seeded Chants, winners of 12 straight, are now just one win away from their first NCAA super regionals appearance since 2010. They will either get a rematch with NC State or play Navy at 1 p.m. Monday with their opponent needing to beat them twice as per the double-elimination format of the regional bracket.

“[Left fielder] Anthony Marks is a little bit of a fireball so he was about to lose his mind out there, but we calmed him down. It’s happened to us before,” senior closer Mike Morrison said over the overnight delay. “... You can’t really control it. It’s not like they’re stopping the game because they want to. They’re just doing their job and following their rules. It was kind of crappy going home and having to go to sleep because we were all wired until about 3 in the morning, but we woke up this morning, finished the job and we’re ready to move on.”

That’s an understated way to put it as the Chants (46-15) closed out perhaps their biggest win since that run to the 2010 super regionals, but the goals for this team have always been grander.

So for now, it was just another step in the process.

“That was a very hard fought game all night last night and again this morning. I couldn’t be prouder of that group of kids in my dugout,” coach Gary Gilmore said. “They were fantastic all night long and just competed their hearts out.”

The overnight delay was unexpected drama, but the game had plenty of natural tension as well.

A G.K. Young RBI single in the first inning stood as the only run until the eighth when Zach Remillard delivered an RBI double and Kevin Woodall Jr. tacked on an RBI single to make it 3-0. Remillard then added an RBI single in the ninth after play resumed Sunday to provide a little more cushion – not that the Chants needed it.

They had gotten a pair of tremendous pitching performances from starter Alex Cunningham, who went 5 1/3 scoreless innings against the Wolfpack (36-21), and Morrison, who didn’t allow even a base-runner over the final 3 2/3 while retiring all 11 batters he faced.

“Alex Cunningham was absolutely fantastic on the pitcher’s mound for us and Mike Morrison brought the win home for us. Zach Remillard came up big two or three times with RBI hits that we really needed to have,” Gilmore said.

“We misfired on two or three things that could have made it a little easier on ourselves, but this bunch finds a way to persevere. They always believe in themselves and they know the guy behind them is going to pick them up when we fail. They’ve been doing it all year and I just couldn’t be more proud of them right now.”

After the teams had combined for 23 runs during their regular-season meeting – a 13-10 NC State win back on Feb. 20 – Coastal Carolina wasted no time getting the offense going again in this one while seemingly setting the stage for another slugfest.

The Chants loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the first on walks by Marks and Michael Paez and a bunt single from Connor Owings. But NC State righty Cory Wilder managed to get out of that jam allowing only an RBI single to Young for a 1-0 Chants lead.

That opening frame was indeed setting the tone for the rest of the game, but not in the way it initially looked.

The teams would combine to leave 17 runners on base and squander a number of prime scoring opportunities.

Cunningham, the Chants’ junior right-hander, had given up six runs in four innings against the Wolfpack in that regular-season meeting, but he was masterful Saturday in coming through with clutch outs time and again.

NC State got a two-out triple from Preston Palmeiro in the bottom of the first, but Cunningham got Joe Dunand to pop out and strand him there.

The Wolfpack had runners on first and second with two outs in the third when Cunningham got Palmeiro to ground out. They had a runner on second with two outs in the fourth when he froze Brett Kinneman for an inning-ending strikeout. They had runners on first and second again in the fifth, but Cunningham struck out Palmeiro on a full-count pitch to end that threat and pounded his chest walking off the mound to the delight of the Coastal Carolina fans.

“As far as the emotions go, I really couldn’t tell you, I kind of blacked out,” he said Sunday. “You get in that atmosphere, it’s really just pure instinct. But lot of pressure pitches, that wears on you, but luckily we got out of it. I made a big pitch on Palmeiro, a 3-2 change-up, and we prevailed.”

He would end up giving up just four hits, two walks and striking out six to improve to 9-3.

In the bottom of the sixth, NC State got a leadoff double from Dunand and moved him to third with one out to end Cunningham’s day, but the Chants were ready with Morrison, their All-American senior closer who has had an uncanny ability to wiggle out of such situations almost all season.

And sure enough, he did it yet again, getting Andrew Knizner and Kinneman to both pop out to second baseman Seth Lancaster.

The Chants had their own missed opportunities, but they finally created some separation in the eighth.

Owings drew a walk to lead off the inning and Remillard followed with a double to the gap in right-centerfield to add that long-awaited insurance run. Two batters later Woodall, who was making his first start since March 22 in place of injured first baseman Tyler Chadwick, delivered an RBI single to shallow left to make it a 3-0 game.

Morrison continued to cruise on the mound as all the momentum was with the Chants until the weather made its reappearance, with one out and one runner on for Coastal Carolina in the top of the ninth.

If there was any question as to whether or not Morrison would take the mound again Sunday, though, it wasn’t one in his mind.

“I couldn’t really sleep. ... But [pitching coach Drew] Thomas today when I got off the bus was like, ‘Get loose and we’ll see where you’re at,’ and I kind of laughed at him a little bit,” said Morrison, who earned his ninth save. “But it was fun, just finishing that one off.”

Now they need one more win to finish off the whole regional and put themselves one step closer on their quest for the College World Series, setting up a matchup with the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional.

But one step at a time.

“It feels good, but every game is going to be a tough battle at this stage of the season,” Remillard said. “... We’re going to have to take it a pitch at a time and keep competing. It’s good to be in the position we’re in, but you’ve got to take it pitch by pitch and step by step.”

This story was originally published June 5, 2016 at 1:14 AM with the headline "After overnight delay, Chanticleers close out big win over Wolfpack."