Rider stuns top-seed Coastal Carolina in NCAAs with 9-run inning, game-ending catch

Coastal Carolina lost a no-hitter, the lead and the game with a disastrous seventh inning Friday night in the NCAA Tournament’s Conway Regional.

The No. 4 seed Rider Broncs bested the regional’s top-seeded Chanticleers 11-10 in extra innings at Springs Brooks Stadium after Coastal’s bullpen couldn’t hold on to a 5-0 lead.

The game began well for Coastal as freshman pitcher Liam Doyle silenced the Broncs’ bats.

Doyle had a no-hitter through six innings and beat Rider batters with a combination of fastballs and off-speed pitches. CCU coach Gary Gilmore said the key to success for Doyle was maintaining focus and controlling his emotions while on the mound, and the freshman did just that.

Despite giving up a walk and a hit-by-pitch in the first inning, Doyle was poised throughout and finished with nine strikeouts on 99 pitches. The New Hampshire product had served mostly as a reliever for most of the season and only had four appearances where he pitched four or more innings.

The Chanticleers’ offense took advantage and went up 5-0 through six innings.

Coastal has relied on their bats all season. CCU went 26-7 in games where they had 10 or more hits in a game, and the Chanticleers hit their mark once more Friday with 14. A packed Springs Brooks Stadium roared as Coastal took the early lead and several fans bickered with the home base umpire all night over the strike zone, one fan yelling, “Be consistent!”

Official attendance was 3,593.

“I really appreciate the support we got from our community tonight,” Gilmore said of the Coastal Carolina fans in attendance. “It’s one of the best crowds that’s ever been here since we built” the stadium in 2015.

Gilmore on Thursday said he wanted the crowd to provide extra support for the team and serve as a 10th man, and they obliged throughout the early innings.

But disaster struck the Chanticleers went to the bullpen to start the seventh inning.

“I trust the coaching staff, thought it was the right move to pull me,” Doyle said afterward. “I trust the coaching staff to make the right decisions.”

The Broncs seized on the moment and scored nine runs in the seventh inning, hit through the order and silenced the stunned CCU fans. It was the most runs surrendered by Coastal in a single inning this season, the third-most runs given up all year by the Chants and the second-most runs scored in a game by Rider.

Pitching was a concern for the Chanticleers going into the game. CCU did not have a lot of options in the bullpen due to injuries, Gilmore said.

But Coastal did not go quietly and slowly chipped away at the Rider lead. Shortstop Ty Dooley’s two-run home run in the seventh inning cut the lead to two, and a Derek Bender single in the eighth brought the game to 9-8.

The Chanticleers got men on third and second with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Centerfielder Nick Lucky drove the tying run home with a fly ball to left, the home crowd coming to life once again.

But CCU didn’t take the lead, and the game went to extra innings. The Chants were 5-0 in extra-inning games this season, but the Broncs didn’t flinch and took an 11-9 lead in the top of the 10th.

Coastal managed to cut the lead to one with a Ty Dooley sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning. The Chanticleers loaded the bases with two outs, but a diving catch from Rider center fielder Brendan O’Donnell on a Caden Bodine line drive dashed the hopes of another comeback and ended the roller coaster matchup.

Gilmore said it was a team loss and that leaving runners on base throughout the game prevented them from “blowing the game wide open.” Gilmore declined to blame the bullpen for the loss.

“The (pitchers) we went to had been very effective down the stretch for us,” Gilmore said. “I don’t know if I’ve ever seen it before, but it happens. … We weren’t trying to give them the hits — they got the hits.”

The Chanticleers will play UNCW on Saturday in an elimination game. Gilmore did not name a starting pitcher.

Coastal must fight its way through the loser’s bracket in order to advance to the super regional round of the tournament.

Conway Regional scores, schedule

Friday

Game 1: No. 2 Duke 12, No. 3 UNCW 3

Game 2: No. Rider 11, No. 10 Coastal Carolina 10 (10 inn.)

Saturday

Game 3: No. 3 UNCW vs. No. 1 Coastal, noon (ESPN+)

Game 4: No. 2 Duke vs. No. 4 Rider, 6 p.m. (TV TBD)

Sunday

Game 5: Winner G3 vs. Loser G4, noon (TV TBD)

Game 6: Winner G4 vs. Winner G5, 6 p.m. (TV TBD)

Monday

Game 7: Winner G6 vs. Loser G6, TBD/if necessary (TV TBD)