OMAHA, Neb. — Coastal Carolina broke open a tied game with three runs in the eighth inning, Dominick Carbone shut down a threat by Arizona in the ninth and the Chanticleers opened the College World Series with a 7-4 victory Friday.
The Chanticleers (54-11) extended their winning streak to 24 games in their first appearance in Omaha since they beat Arizona in the 2016 finals. They’ll play Sunday night against Oregon State.
“We’ve got a dugout full of hungry and humble dogs,” Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall said.
Arizona (44-20), in the CWS for the first time since 2021, will play Louisville on Sunday.
Coastal Carolina scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to forge a 4-all tie with the Wildcats and took the lead in the eighth after reliever Garrett Hicks (5-1) retired the first two batters.
Wells Skyes sliced an 0-2 pitch just inside the right-field line for a double and Caden Bodine was intentionally walked before Sebastian Alexander, who struck out in his previous three at-bats, singled in the go-ahead run. Arizona closer Tony Pluta came on and gave up Blake Barthol’s two-run double.
“This is my last year of college eligibility and I’m giving it everything I’ve got for this team,” Sykes said. “I’ve got a ton of respect for my teammates and my coaches, and I think the big crowds and the loud environments are helping. We’re locked in. We’re on a crazy win streak. We’re really consistent.
“So I think that’s helped everybody, not just me.”
Schnall said Sykes, the No. 9 batter who transferred from The Citadel, was the right man at the right time in the eighth inning.
“He’s got guts,” Schnall said. “He’s great under tension and stress. He lives for those moments. He’s had some massive hits this postseason starting the conference tournament. But I’m really proud of him because he’s really worked hard and he really bought into the Coastal way Day 1.”
The Wildcats had runners on the corners with no outs in the ninth. Carbone struck out pinch-hitter Dom Rodriguez and then got Brendan Summerhill to hit into a game-ending double play.
“It came down to some great two-strike hitting by them,” Wildcats coach Chip Hale said. “Great pitch almost on the ground. Guy dunks it into right for a double. Then they get jammed, hit a ball into center for a base hit. … That’s why they have the record they have and they’ve been able to run so many off.”
Oregon State 4, Louisville 3
Aiva Arquette scored from first base on Gavin Turley’s drive into the left-field corner in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Oregon State a 4-3 walk-off victory over Louisville on Friday night.
The Cardinals had tied it with two runs in the top half before Oregon State recorded its fourth walk-off win of the season and second in four games.
The No. 8 national seed Beavers (48-14-1), back in Omaha for the first time since they won the national title in 2018, will play Coastal Carolina on Sunday after the Cardinals (40-22) meet Arizona in an elimination game.
Arquette, a projected first-round pick in the MLB amateur draft next month, was having a rough night in the field before delivering his third base hit of the game with one out in the ninth. Turley then sent the first pitch from Jake Schweitzer (4-2) on a line into the corner. Left fielder Zion Rose tried to cut the ball off but couldn’t come up with it, allowing Arquette to be waved home.
“It was cool because it’s the same thing every at-bat for us – go up and compete and hit the ball hard,” Turley said. “Knowing we had the top of the lineup up, I knew we had a chance to do something dangerous.”
Turley was drenched with a bucket of sports drink during the on-field celebration. In the Beavers’ super regional opener last week, Turley scored the winning run on AJ Singer’s walk-off single in a 5-4, 10-inning win over Florida State.
Louisville was left to regroup.
“They took advantage of an unfortunate situation for us, just a little hiccup here or there and you get walked off in the ninth,” Cardinals coach Dan McDonnell said. “Must have been a great game for everybody to watch and enjoy. A lot of good baseball. We came up on the short end.”
