UNCW baseball's season ends with loss to Coastal Carolina in NCAA Tournament
CONWAY, S.C. – UNCW baseball’s 2023 season came to an end Saturday with a 12-2 loss to Coastal Carolina in the NCAA Tournament’s Conway Regional.
The Seahawks (34-23) gave up a grand slam in the opening frame and had a coach ejected in the sixth inning against the Chanticleers, the No. 10 national seed, at Springs Brooks Stadium.
After receiving a warning from umpires earlier in the game, UNCW pitching coach Kelly Secrest was ejected in the sixth inning with Coastal up 6-0. Following the ejection, the Chanticleers scored three runs in the frame.
Coastal Carolina will play Duke (36-21) or Rider (36-19) in an elimination game Sunday at noon.
Grand slam provides early fireworks for Coastal Carolina
Coastal Carolina lost 11-10 in 10 innings against Rider on Friday night in a game that ended around 11:13 p.m. in Conway. Despite the quick turnaround with a noon start, the Chanticleers didn’t show any signs of fatigue in the first inning against UNCW.
Graham Brown came to the plate with the bases loaded and sent a 3-2 pitch over the Under Armour logo on the right-field wall. The two-out grand slam put the Seahawks in a 4-0 hole before their first plate appearance.
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Coastal Carolina added another dinger in the fourth when Caden Bodine hit a two-run shot over the right-field wall and out of the stadium to give the Chanticleers a 6-0 lead. Bodine had three hits against Rider before adding three more against the Seahawks.
Alec DeMartino gets NCAA Tournament moment
Raleigh native Alec DeMartino redshirted in the 2022 season, but started 51 of UNCW’s 57 games as a freshman. DeMartino left Conway with a memorable moment after hitting an opposite-field home run in the seventh inning to account for UNCW’s two runs against Coastal. He was 2-for-3 at the plate with two RBIs.
Another quick NCAA Tournament exit for UNCW
After winning the CAA regular-season and tournament championships for the first time since 2012, UNCW rode a six-game winning streak into its first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2019.
The Seahawks hadn’t lost back-to-back games since mid-May against Charleston and Wake Forest. UNCW won at least two regional games in 2015, 2016 and 2018 before losing its last four in the tournament.
UNCW was outscored 24-5 in its two NCAA Tournament games in Conway.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: UNCW baseball loses to Coastal Carolina in NCAA Tournament
