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The Thundering Herd reached the semifinals of its conference tournament for the first time since 2016.

�����Ƶ�It�����Ƶ�s been a heck of a run in the month of May. Unfortunately, we ran into a really good baseball team in Coastal Carolina. Give them a lot of credit,�����Ƶ� Marshall coach Greg Beals said. �����Ƶ�I�����Ƶ�m really proud, and I don�����Ƶ�t use that word lightly at all, of what we�����Ƶ�ve accomplished �����Ƶ� especially down the stretch as a program.�����Ƶ�

Marshall was held to five hits. Nolan Wilson finished with two, while AJ Havrilla and Tyler Kamerer added one apiece. The Herd left seven runners on base.

Coastal Carolina produced eight hits. Blake Barthol had a homer while Sebastian Alexander added a double. Coastal Carolina leaned on seven innings of work from Sun Belt Pitcher of the Year Jacob Morrison. He allowed five hits and one earned run while striking out three. Morrison holds a 1.90 ERA.

Marshall took the first lead. Maika Niu doubled before Eddie Leon dropped a squeeze bunt to score him.

Coastal responded in the home half with Barthol�����Ƶ�s two-run homer to take the lead for good.

The Herd was scoreless for the rest of the afternoon, while Coastal Carolina slowly built up its advantage.

In the third, Barthol hit a sacrifice fly to plate another run and make it 3-1.

Marshall�����Ƶ�s Bryce Blevins held Coastal to three runs until the fifth, when he was replaced by Fenix DiGiacomo.

Blevins allowed three earned runs on six hits, striking out two in 56 pitches.

�����Ƶ�I had all the confidence in Bryce. He�����Ƶ�s a competitor through and through,�����Ƶ� Marshall�����Ƶ�s Nicholas Weyrich said. �����Ƶ�I knew he was going to give us his all and pour his heart out for this team. He did.�����Ƶ�

Alexander singled in the fifth inning before stealing second. He reached third on a groundout before Domenico Tozzi reached on a fielder�����Ƶ�s choice to score him. Coastal led 4-1.

In the sixth, another sacrifice fly plated a four-run lead for the Chanticleers. Outside of the homer, Marshall limited much of the Chants�����Ƶ� offensive production but was unable to bring home runners.

�����Ƶ�Finding a way to get a runner in is all we�����Ƶ�ve been preaching this year,�����Ƶ� Leon said. �����Ƶ�With a runner on, we need to find a way to win. We�����Ƶ�ll never not believe in each other. We�����Ƶ�re a really close team and we believe that anyone in the lineup and on the bench can change the game.

�����Ƶ�There was never a time of getting down until the last out that we could�����Ƶ�ve won the game.�����Ƶ�

Luke Proehl entered for DiGiacomo in the eighth. DiGiacomo allowed just one hit in his two innings of work, relenting a pair of walks and two earned runs.

Proehl punched through the seventh before Weyrich entered in the eighth. A final run scored for Coastal in the eighth, giving Marshall its last chance, trailing 6-1.

Wilson was hit by a pitch to put a runner on in the ninth, but a pair of strikeouts and a groundout ended the game.

For the senior group, the mindset of shifting the culture to a winning one makes the season a success.

�����Ƶ�Our main goal was to set this program in the right direction,�����Ƶ� Leon said. �����Ƶ�From what I think we did this season, I think we put it into a great direction. I have no doubt that this team can be ranked in the next two or three years.�����Ƶ�

MARSHALL 100 000 000 �����Ƶ� 1 5 0

COASTAL CAROLINA 201 011 01X �����Ƶ� 6 8 0

Blevins, DiGiacomo (5), Proehl (7), Weyrich (8) and Wilson; Morrison, Potok (8) and Bodine.

Hitting: (Marshall) Wilson 2-3, Niu 1-3 2B, Leon 0-3 SAC RBI; (Coastal Carolina) Alexander 2-4 2B, Barthol 1-2 3 RBI HR, Tozzi 1-3 RBI, Sykes 2-3 2 RBI.