Clutch Chants: Coastal Carolina rallies past Arizona in CWS opener
Those struggles at the plate Sebastian Alexander experienced early in Coastal Carolina’s College World Series opener Friday were mitigated by an eighth-inning decision from the Arizona bench.
The Chanticleers scored three runs in that frame after Wildcats coach Chip Hale elected to intentionally walk Coastal catcher Caden Bodine with two outs.
That move eventually led to three runs that gave CCU a 7-4 victory over Arizona before a Charles Schwab Field crowd of 24,058. Coastal will now play Oregon State at 7 p.m. Sunday.
“We’ve got a dugout full of a bunch of hungry and humble dogs,” Coastal coach Kevin Schnall said. “Luckily for us today, we just executed a couple more pitches than they did. We were able to get a couple of big hits when it really mattered, and that big inning in the eighth was really critical.”
One of the biggest hits in that pivotal eighth inning came from Alexander, who had struck out in his three previous at-bats. The move by Hale to walk Bodine, a second-team All-America catcher, in favor of facing Alexander, was a bit of a surprise because Bodine had stranded four runners in the second and fourth innings.
So with center fielder Wells Sykes, the Chanticleers’ No. 9 hitter, at second base after a double in the previous at-bat, Alexander had a chance to create a memorable moment.
That’s precisely what happened. He stroked a single to center field that helped heal the sting of the three strikeouts and drove in Sykes with what proved to be the winning run off Arizona’s Garrett Hicks.
“Both teams played their tails off,” Hale said. “Some funky plays in there. Some hit batsmen, some funky bunts. But in the end it came down to some great two-strike hitting by them. Guy dunks it into right for a double. Then they get jammed, hit a ball into center for a base hit.”
Alexander and Bodine then scored on the ensuing at-bat when second baseman Blake Barthol hit his second double of the game. What made that hit more extraordinary was that it came off Tony Pluta, Arizona’s ace closer who earlier in the day was name the 2025 Stopper of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association.
Though the runs were charged to Hicks’ tab, expectations for Pluta were high to keep the Wildcats within one run. After all, he entered the game with a 3-0 record, a school-record 14 saves in 28 appearances and a 1.26 ERA.
“Obviously the two runs that Tony gave up, those hurt, too,” Hale said. “Because we ended up getting first and third and nobody out.”
The Chanticleers (54-11) were able to extend their nation-leading winning streak to 24 games after breaking open the close game that saw two lead changes and two ties before the decisive eighth inning.
Cameron Flukey earned the victory with five innings of relief work, and Dominick Carbone picked up his sixth save of the season. Schnall’s decision to have No. 3 starter Riley Eikhoff to pitch the CWS opener was a surprise to many, including Hale and some of the Wildcats starters.
“I knew he likes his heater,” Arizona catcher Adonys Guzman said. “He has a little bit of a sink, so I was just trying to see his heater, put a ball in play hard.”
Wildcats shortstop Mason White, who had a solo home run off Eikhoff in the fourth inning, agreed with Guzman about Eikhoff’s sinker.
“He was sinking the ball and sweeping it pretty well,” White said. “He was locating, too, so what you had to do against him is jump the mistake. We started to do it as the game went forward.”
Coastal Carolina opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second inning. First baseman Colby Thorndyke led off with a first-pitch single to center field. Right fielder Blagen Pado followed with a single to left field that moved Thorndyke to second base.
The Chanticleers then loaded the bases on a bunt that took an unusual twist when the ball went high off the bat of shortstop Ty Dooley. With a chance to catch the pop-up, Arizona pitcher Owen Kramkowski sprinted toward the third-base line.
His diving attempt to secure the out didn’t work out as the ball came out of Kramkowski’s glove and landed in fair territory. That sequence put Dooley on base with a bunt single and loaded the bases with no outs for the Chanticleers.
Sykes laced a one-out single to left field that brought home Thorndyke and Pado for a 2-0 Coastal lead.
Arizona evened the score at 2-2 thanks to a trio of extra base hits. White started the hit parade with his 20th home run of the season as Alexander narrowly missed catching the ball as it went over the fence.
Back-to-back doubles by Guzman and Maddox Mihalakis produced the second run of the inning. Guzman’s double to the right field corner came on the first pitch from Eikhoff after White’s home run.
Coastal Carolina regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth when second baseman Blake Barthol scored on a two-out single by Pado.
The Wildcats responded by grabbing their first lead of the game by plating two runs in the top of the sixth. Flukey, who took over pitching duties from Eikhoff in the fifth inning, hit three of Arizona’s first four batters in the inning with a pitch.
Coastal showed off its hitting depth as the six through nine hitters in the lineup all were 2 of 4. Barthol was 3 of 5 with two RBIs and one run scored.
“A first game win is huge,” Barthol said. “Kind of brings pressure off the shoulders a little bit. But we’ve got a game plan and we’re going to stick to it.”
2025 College World Series schedule, scores
Double-elimination tournament; all times Eastern
Friday, June 13 (Bracket 1)
Game 1: Coastal Carolina 7, Arizona 4
Game 2: Oregon State 4, vs. Louisville 3
Saturday, June 14 (Bracket 2)
Game 3: UCLA (47-16) vs. Murray State, 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 4: Arkansas (48-13) vs. LSU (48-15), 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Sunday, June 15 (Bracket 1)
Game 5: Arizona vs. Louisville, 2 p.m. (ESPN) — ELIMINATION GAME
Game 6: Coastal Carolina vs. Oregon State, 7 p.m. (ESPN2)
Monday, June 16 (Bracket 2)
Game 7: UCLA/Murray State loser vs. Arkansas/LSU loser, 2 p.m. (ESPN2)
Game 8: UCLA/Murray State winner vs. Arkansas/LSU winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Tuesday, June 17 (Bracket 1)
Game 9: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Wednesday, June 18 (Bracket 2)
Game 11: Game 6 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 2 p.m. (ESPN)
Game 12: Game 8 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 7 p.m. (ESPN)
Thursday, June 19 (Brackets 1-2)
Game 13 (if necessary): Game 11 winner vs. Game 11 loser, TBD
Game 14 (if necessary): Game 12 winner vs. Game 12 loser, TBD
Saturday, June 21
CWS Finals Game 1, 6 p.m. (ESPN)
Sunday, June 22
CWS Finals Game 2, 1:30 p.m. (ABC)
Monday, June 23
CWS Finals Game 3 (if necessary), 6:30 pm. (ESPN)
This story was originally published June 13, 2025 at 5:27 PM.