Upstart Marshall (32-25) was a confident fourth seed heading into Thursday's Sun Belt Conference baseball tournament game with top-seeded Coastal Carolina (46-11)Â at Riverwalk Stadium. That confidence was shaken early by the Chanticleers, but the Thundering Herd rallied late in a 4-2 loss, showing it's a vastly different team than it was a month ago.
Coastal Carolina had dominated a three-game series with Marshall in mid-April, winning 11-1, 10-0 and 13-5. Marshall, on a seven-game winning streak entering the SBC second-round game, had played much better since then. The Chanticleers didn't care, bullying the Herd early before finding themselves in a battle late.
Coastal Carolina took a 4-0 lead after two innings against struggling Marshall starter Griffin Miller. The sophomore from Madison, West Virginia, walked two batters and threw a pair of wild pitches in the first inning, but escaped with just one run scored.
In the second, a walk, a hit batter and a balk contributed to three Chanticleer runs and a 4-0 lead.
Miller walked a batter and committed a throwing error in the third but escaped unscathed. In the fourth, he walked one batter, gave up one hit and hit another batter before retiring Coastal without giving up a run.Â
Miller was pulled after the fifth inning for reliever Peyton Jackson with Marshall having done little against sophomore hurler Cameron Flukey, who allowed five hits, struck out 10 and walked one in seven innings. Miller (7-4) walked five, struck out four, allowed four hits and plunked two batters.
"Cam was phenomenal," Coastal coach Kevin Schnall said. "That was the name of the game tonight."
With Flukey (6-1) out of the game, Marshall went to work against three Coastal relivers in the eighth. A.J. Havrilla singled in Jackson Halter to break up the shutout. Eddie Leon followed with a base hit to drive in Maika Niu to pull the Herd within 4-2.
Marshall, though, went down in order in the ninth against Coastal's Ryan Lynch, who earned his sixth save.Â
"We gave them too many freebies early," Marshall coach Greg Beals said. "Flukey is a really good college pitcher and had us on our heels a little bit. We chased too many breaking balls."
The Herd outhit Coastal 9-7, with each starter smacking one hit, but left six runners on base. The Chanticleers stranded seven of their own runners.
Marshall takes on Louisiana (27-30) at 7:30 p.m. on Friday in the losers' bracket. The Herd beat the Ragin' Cajuns 9-5 on Wednesday in the first round of the tournament.
"I have no doubt about our guys answering the bell tomorrow," Beals said. "We'll be ready to play. I'm sure they will, too. I look forward to seeing how we respond."
Beals said he preferred to win but was pleased with how much better the Herd played compared to the first three games with the Chanticleers.
"We've grown a lot," Beals said. "We've developed a culture, a competitive toughness. The guys are playing for each other and for Marshall University."
MARSHALL 000 000 020 -- 2 9 1
COASTAL CAROLINA 130 000 00X -- 4 7 0
Miller, Jackson (5), Prohl (8) and Wilson; Flukey, Carbone (8), Doran (8), Lynch (8) and Bodine.
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