UNCW slugs way into Columbia Regional final

UNCW slugged its way to the championship of the Columbia Regional, topping Rhode Island 11-7 Saturday night at Founders Park.

The Seahawks pounded out 15 hits, including four home runs, to move a win away from reaching a Super Regional.

South Carolina and Rhode Island will play Sunday at noon, with the winner needing to beat UNCW on Sunday night and again Monday to advance.

“We certainly felt like it was kind of do-or-die. We’ve come back through the loser’s bracket in several regionals and put ourselves into the championship game, but each time we haven’t had enough left from pitching,” UNCW coach Mark Scalf said. “We needed to put ourselves in a position where we were 2-0 and somebody’s got to come get us twice.”

UNCW starter Alex Royalty got chased after four runs, three earned, in 1 2/3 innings, but Seahawks relievers Austin Easter and Austin Magestro held the Rams’ offense down for most of the night.

Easter threw 39 pitches, while Magestro tossed 66. Easter could be available Sunday night, but Magestro is out until at leastMonday.

Still, Scalf believes his pitching staff is set up well for the rest of the weekend.

“We feel like we’re still in pretty good shape,” he said. “We’ve only had to use two guys out of the pen the last two days. I think there’s still some depth there to be available tomorrow.”

The Seahawks are expected to start Cory Gantz against the winner of Rhode Island-USC Sunday night. The righty is 4-0 with a 4.53 ERA on the year.

Rhode Island will start Ben Wessel on Sunday against the Gamecocks looking to avoid elimination. The righty is 6-4 with a 4.36 ERA.

Cerrato said his team has confidence getting ready to face USC after knocking off the Gamecocks Friday night.

“We’re not going to come in here tomorrow and feel intimidated by the situation,” he said. “The Gamecocks are going to be hungry tomorrow coming to pay us back for last night, but we’ll be ready.”

This story was originally published June 4, 2016 at 10:48 PM with the headline "UNCW slugs way into Columbia Regional final."