OMAHA, Neb. 鈥 Wells Sykes slid across home plate and jumped up in a cloud of dust with arms raised. The Coastal Carolina winning streak is alive and well in Omaha.
Coastal Carolina鈥檚 Wells Sykes (20) celebrates on second base next to Arizona鈥檚 Mason White (24) during the eighth inning in Game 1 of the Men鈥檚 College World Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha on Friday.
Sebastian Alexander鈥檚 sinking line drive to center field provided the decisive late scoring moment and the Chanticleers hit their way past Arizona in a 7-4 rollercoaster ride to open the College World Series on Friday afternoon at Schwab Field.
Arizona (44-20) brought the tying run to the plate with no outs in the ninth but followed with a strikeout and double play. The Wildcats face elimination against the loser of the Oregon State-Louisville game Sunday at 11 a.m. while Coastal (54-11) faces the winner of that tilt Sunday at 4 p.m.
A punch-counterpunch affair reminiscent of the teams鈥 2016 championship series played out across a warm afternoon in a worthy debut of the 75th CWS in Omaha. Small ball. Big hits. Clutch pitching and defense.
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Ultimately, the Chanticleers were the ones celebrating a 24th straight triumph dating back to late April. A three-run eighth provided the difference beginning with Alexander鈥檚 scoring single and followed by Blake Barthol socking a two-run double to right-center as a crowd of 24,058 buzzed.
鈥淲e鈥檙e locked in,鈥 Sykes said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e on a crazy win streak.鈥
Coastal surprised Arizona by starting sinker/slider specialist Riley Eikhoff, who allowed just a pair of runs across four efficient innings. Regular Friday starter Cameron Flukey handled the next four stanzas to similar results (four innings, two runs) featuring a live mid-90s fastball, biting slider and slow curveball.
鈥淗e was sinking the ball and sweeping it pretty well,鈥 Arizona outfielder Mason White said of Eikhoff. 鈥淎nd he was locating too, so what you had to do against him is jump the mistake.鈥
White did in the fourth inning when he hammered an 0-2 high fastball the opposite way to left field for a 350-foot home run 鈥 the ball needed every inch as it barely cleared the glove of the leaping outfielder Alexander. Adonys Guzman followed with a double into the right-field corner and trotted home when Maddox Mihalakis pulled a waist-high offering to the same spot.
The three straight extra-base hits tied the game after Coastal struck first with a pair of second-inning runs. Three consecutive Chanticleer singles to open the home half of the frame set up the threat, including a popup bunt by Ty Dooley that Arizona pitcher Owen Kramkowski couldn鈥檛 quite corral on a dive 30 feet up the third-base line.
鈥淪ome funky plays in there,鈥 Arizona coach Chip Hale said.
That brought up Sykes 鈥 the nine-hole hitter batting .292 鈥 who pulled a high breaking pitch through the left side for a two-run, one-out single. Kramkowski prevented further damage by coaxing a lineout to right field and striking out Chants RBI leader Alexander.
Eikhoff faced the minimum through two innings despite leadoff Arizona singles 鈥 a caught stealing and ground-ball double play wiped out runners. He stranded a one-out Tommy Splaine double in the third.
The Chants regained a 3-2 lead in the fifth. With runners at the corners and two outs, Blagen Pado pushed a fastball through the right side in a spot opened up by a hit-and-run call.
Arizona鈥檚 go-ahead sixth came with an ironic twist. Flukey and Coastal 鈥 the national leader in being hit by pitches (170) 鈥 plunked three Wildcats, with the last to Mihalakis coming with the bases loaded. Garen Caulfield followed with an RBI groundout to forge a 4-3 edge.
Coastal retied the score in its half of the sixth against reliever Casey Hintz. Dean Mihos singled, advanced on a wild pitch and groundout and touched home on a Caden Bodine roller to the shortstop.
Arizona managed five innings from Kramkowski, who struck out seven and worked around nine hits and a walk. The sophomore bounced back from a disastrous Super Regional start at North Carolina 鈥 when he didn鈥檛 get out of the second inning and gave up eight runs 鈥 by stranding seven baserunners.
The Wildcats escaped a jam in the seventh with a Coastal runner on third and one out as reliever Garrett Hicks came on to collect a pair of strikeouts on six pitches. Hicks produced two more quick outs in the eighth before Sykes blooped a double down the right-field line. Arizona then intentionally walked Caden Bodine.
Arizona鈥檚 Garrett Hicks pitches during the seventh inning in Game 1 of the Men鈥檚 College World Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha on Friday.
Alexander followed by cracking a high fastball back up the middle for an RBI single. Arizona brought in star closer Tony Pluta and Barthol greeted him with a double to the wall in right-center for the final blow.
鈥淲hen Blake got that hit, we hit the trifecta,鈥 Chants coach Kevin Schnall said. 鈥淲e scored first, we got the big inning and we got to seven (runs). Dinner reservations were made.鈥
Barthol credited the pitching staff, which held down Arizona鈥檚 159th-ranked scoring offense and bought time for the Coastal sticks.
鈥淲hen they give up less than five runs a game, we can breathe and just relax in the box,鈥 Barthol said. 鈥淓ventually the runs will come.鈥
Arizona players were subdued but poker-faced afterward. The group lost its Super Regional opener at No. 5 national seed North Carolina a week earlier and bounced back to advance.
The Chants kept their win streak going. The Wildcats didn鈥檛, and the regional two seed is again playing with its season on the brink.
鈥淭he zoo, everything that goes on with Omaha that鈥檚 really cool and really fun is over for us,鈥 Hale said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 back to foxhole mentality, playing for each other and worrying about baseball.鈥
Coastal Carolina鈥檚 Dean Mihos (8) is forced out at second base by Arizona鈥檚 Garen Caulfield during the fourth inning in Game 1 of the Men鈥檚 College World Series at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha on Friday.
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