Rain halts play again with Coastal Carolina’s season on the line

Once again rain has halted the Coastal Carolina and NC State baseball teams in the ninth inning, this time with the Chanticleers’ season on the line.

Down 5-3 entering the top of the ninth in the teams’ winner-take-all NCAA regional final Monday night, the Chanticleers managed to load the bases with one out before the umpires decided the rain had just become too much and called for the tarp to be brought back out at Doak Field.

The teams, who also had their game Saturday suspended in the ninth and continued the next day, will finally resume and presumably complete the contest and the regional at 2 p.m. Tuesday.

Coaches and players were not available for comment afterward.

Coastal Carolina (46-16) had entered the day on a 12-game winning streak, including that 4-0 win over NC State (38-21) earlier in the tournament, and needed just one win to advance to the NCAA super regionals.

But the Wolfpack, who had worked their way back through the losers bracket with a lopsided win over Navy on Sunday, defeated the Chants 8-1 in the first game of the day.

Coastal Carolina didn’t seem fazed by that setback as it opened the second game with a two-run home run from Michael Paez in the top of the first inning and later went up 3-1 in the fourth, but they would lose that lead in the bottom of the sixth.

A leadoff double by Brett Kinneman, a walk to Chance Shepard and an error on a slow hopper to second baseman Seth Lancaster loaded the bases with no outs for NC State.

Bobby Holmes, who had come in relief in the fourth, stayed in the game and nearly got out of the jam entirely. Stephen Pitarra hit a sharp grounder to first that Kevin Woodall Jr. fielded and threw to the plate for the first out, and Holmes then got Evan Mendoza to hit a grounder to short. Paez tossed to Lancaster who fired to Woodall for the would-be inning-ending double play, but the umpire ruled that Woodall had come off the bag.

That tied the game at 3-3, and Preston Palmeiro followed with an RBI single to give NC State its first lead.

The hosts later made it 5-3 on an RBI single by Mendoza in the eighth.

But as it turned out, the game was far from down – figuratively and literally.

Anthony Marks and Paez led off the ninth with back-to-back walks and moved to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Connor Owings. Zach Remillard then hit a dribbler down the third base line, and Mendoza fielded it and tried unsuccessfully to tag Marks as he retreated to the bag. That loaded the bases.

At that point, the umpires decided they weren’t going to get this game finished as the rain continued to fall.

When play resumes, Coastal Carolina will have G.K. Young – who clobbered his 16th home run in the first game of the day – at the plate with every opportunity to complete a momentous rally and seize its first NCAA super regional berth since 2010.

Until then, the wait continues.

This story was originally published June 7, 2016 at 1:07 AM with the headline "Rain halts play again with Coastal Carolina’s season on the line."