CCU Baseball Notebook: Chadwick ends Chants’ home run drought

While Coastal Carolina leads all NCAA Division I teams in home runs this season, the Chanticleers had gone five full games without one before the second inning Saturday night.

That’s when senior second baseman Tyler Chadwick crushed a no-doubt solo shot into the seats in right-centerfield to give the Chants an early lead on the way to a 7-5 win over TCU in the teams’ College World Series elimination game at TD Ameritrade Park.

It wasn’t just a welcomed sight for the Chants to see a homer leave the ballpark; it was perhaps even more encouraging to see Chadwick be the one to deliver that shot after he had struggled at the plate in the first four games here in Omaha and really throughout the NCAA postseason.

“It felt really good. We knew watching video on [TCU pitcher Jared Janczak] and watching him pitch against Texas Tech he had a really, really good two-seam sinking fastball, so the plan all day was to try to see him up and I got a pitch that kind of was off my hip and up in the zone,” Chadwick said. “I put a good swing on it, and I thought I hit it out, but being at TD Ameritrade you never really know if you’re going to get it out. But thank God it got out.”

Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore called that one of the two biggest moments of the game for his team as it helped the Chants shake off a missed opportunity in the first inning and seemed to spark the offense in general.

As well as sparking Chadwick, who would finish 3-for-4 with two runs scored.

It was his best game offensively in the College World Series after coming in 3-for-14 with one RBI and four strikeouts.

Chadwick had missed most of the NCAA regionals with an oblique injury and came into the College World Series 0-for-7 since the end of the Big South tournament.

“[I was] just staying with the process. It was tough. I didn’t play for [a while] and not getting at-bats and then coming back facing some of the best arms in the country, it takes a little bit to get back in the swing of things,” he said. “But I’m starting to see the ball a lot better, and it’s nice when people around you are hitting too. It makes it a little easier to get pitches to hit, but it was a good day and a really good team win and I can’t wait to compete for a national championships now.”

Momentary frustration

Gilmore was asked what he was thinking after the Chants went from nearly having the bases loaded with no outs in the first inning to a base-running blunder costing them their lead runner and eventually leading to a scoreless frame, as junior Michael Paez came too far around third and was tagged out trying to get back to the bag.

“Honestly I wanted to go over there and throw about 87 million things in the dugout because we didn’t slide into the third and do the things we’re taught to do,” Gilmore said. “But I just knew somewhere, somebody ... I thought we had good swings, I thought we had good stuff going in that first inning and [thought], ‘OK, somewhere we’ll get it back.’”

Praise for Woodall’s D

Sophomore Kevin Woodall Jr. has struggled with the bat in the College World series, but his defense at first base has been very strong and drew a couple compliments against Saturday night.

“Possibly the most valuable defensive player for us today was Kevin Woodall,” Gilmore said. “I mean he dug two or three balls and made a couple plays over there at first base. Chadwick was scattering the ball all over the place and if he’s not over there doing what he did, we probably don’t win.”

One scoop in particular came on a low throw from Chadwick at second base for the final out in the top of the eighth to keep a runner from scoring.

“Kevin Woodall picking the ball like he did, that’s not something that people in the stands understand. Those are huge plays that could alter the outcome of the game,” junior pitcher Alex Cunningham said.

Very preliminary thoughts on Arizona

With his top two starters having both pitched on short rest Friday and Saturday, Gilmore didn’t have any early guesses as to who would pitch the opening game of the best-of-three series with Arizona on Monday night.

“I’ve got to let my mind rest for at least a few hours, but we’ll be fine,” he said. “We’ve got to realize that we’ve got to win two games, so worst-case scenario we’re out here three days.”

The head coaches from both teams will meet with the media on Sunday to preview the series in depth, but Gilmore reiterated that he knows his team belongs here.

“I feel good. I mean, they’re a great team. Holy cow, they can really pitch, really defend and they play a West Coast style of baseball so we’re going to have to be ready for a lot of things,” he said. “But it’s like anyone else out here, they’re very talented just like we are.”

This story was originally published June 26, 2016 at 6:02 AM with the headline "CCU Baseball Notebook: Chadwick ends Chants’ home run drought."