MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – The Presbyterian College baseball team and Coastal Carolina played to 13 innings in the series opener on Friday afternoon, but the Chanticleers came away with a 4-3 win at TicketReturn.com Field at Pelicans Ballpark.
PC moves to 12-24-1 on the year and 5-11 in the Big South while Coastal Carolina improves 18-21 and 8-8 in League play. The two teams meet again on Friday at noon in the second game of the three-game series.
Billy Motroni (Goose Creek, S.C.), Jay Lizanich (Greer, S.C.) and Derek Long (Alpharetta, Ga.) each posted a team-high two hits on the day. Glen Casaceli (Jupiter, Fla.) and Lizanich each picked up an RBI as well.
Starting pitcher Beau Dees (Blenheim, S.C.) offered a solid performance, allowing only five hits in six shutout innings. Ethan Wortkoetter (Greer, S.C.) also pitched six innings of relief and took the loss with only two runs in the final inning to move to 1-3 on the season.
PC opened the scoring by manufacturing a run in the top of the third inning. With two away, Motroni and Jacob Midkiff (Rock Hill, S.C.) laced back-to-back singles into right field. The plays put runners on the corners and the Blue Hose cashed in with a double steal to go ahead early, 1-0.
Neither team would find home plate again until the seventh inning. Cam McRae (Darlington, S.C.) picked up a leadoff single and moved to second on a Nate Chong (Duluth, Ga.) sacrifice bunt. Lizanich drove McRae home with an RBI single before a Long single and Glen Casaceli (Jupiter, Fla.) groundout plated Lizanich for a 3-0 PC lead.
Coastal Carolina responded in the bottom of the frame to pull even. Dees left the game after the sixth and Brian Kehner (Marietta, Ga.) took the mound for the Blue Hose. A single and a double brought in Wortkoetter into the game. The Chanticleers picked up their first run on an RBI groundout before an eventual Michael Paez single brought in two and tied the game, 3-3.
The Chanticleers found their final run in the bottom of the 13th. A leadoff double from Reid Moman prompted Paul Sanders (St. Simons Island, Ga.) to take over pitching duties. A sac bunt moved Moman to third before a hit-by-pitch and an intentional walk loaded the bases for Connor Owings, whose infield single scored Moman to end the game, 4-3.
Tyler Herb pitched nine innings for the Chanticleers but Andrew Beckwith improved to 2-1 with the win for his four innings of shutout work.
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Presbyterian College 001 000 200 000 0 - 3 11 1 (12-24-1, 5-11 BSC)
Coastal Carolina.... 000 000 300 000 1 - 4 12 1 (18-21, 9-7 BSC)
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Pitchers: Presbyterian College - DEES, Beau; KEHNER, Brian(7); WORTKOETTER, Ethan(7);
SANDERS, Paul(13) and LONG, Derek. Coastal Carolina - HERB, T.; BECKWITH, A.(10) and
CHADWICK, T..
Win-BECKWITH, A.(2-1) Loss-WORTKOETTER, Ethan(1-3) T-3:54 A-560
Weather: 60, mostly sunny, wind to RC
KEHNER, B. faced 2 batters in the 7th.
