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College  | Story  | 6/24/2016

Chanticleers among the final four

Patrick Ebert     
Photo: Coastal Carolina University




2016 College World Series Recaps: Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Day 4 | Day 5

OMAHA, Neb. – Coastal Carolina out-lasted Texas Tech on Thursday night in an elimination game by a score of 7-5, taking out the last remaining national seed in the tournament, which ensures this year’s champion will not be one of the top 8 national seeds for the fifth consecutive year.

In fact, of the four teams remaining (Coastal Carolina, Arizona, Texas Christian and Oklahoma State) only one of them hosted a Regional (TCU).

Mike Morrison improved to 8-1 on the season providing 4 1/3 frames in the middle of the game to bridge the gap between Chants starter Jason Bilous and slider specialist Bobby Holmes, who recorded his fourth save of the year. Morrison’s 83 pitches thrown was a career high and Holmes didn’t allow a run over the final 2 1/3 to secure the victory.

Coastal catcher David Parrett, the team’s No. 9 hitter, was the unlikely hero in this one, driving in three of his team’s seven runs. Parrett entered the game hitting .130 with only 10 RBI on the season, and saved his best game for Thursday, the sixth day of the College World Series, going 2-for-4.

“Everybody out here is good,” Coastal Carolina head coach Gary Gilmore said after the game about eliminating the No. 5 team heading into the NCAA postseason. “You know, other people seed these guys. I understand how you get to be one of those, we've been one before. But all these guys are equal to me. They all have great pitching staffs and they've got some depth here and there and stuff.

“I'm very proud of our guys. Obviously the teams we've beaten and the teams we've beat to get here, and the two teams we've been fortunate to beat while we've been out here, has been an incredible experience for my coaching staff, our players, the whole nine yards. A lot of people thought we just wanted to come out here. Well, I think they've shown they want to stay out here, and couldn't be prouder of them.”

Both teams had interesting decisions to make regarding their starters for the game, and both wisely chose not to turn to their aces – Andrew Beckwith and Steven Gingery respectively – on only three days rest.

Texas Tech, the home team in this contest, went with lefthander freshman Erikson Lanning, who entered the game with a 3-3 record and a 5.07 ERA in 13 appearances (10 were starts) on the season. However, in his last appearance he started and picked up the win in the Red Raiders big 11-0 CWS-clinching win over East Carolina in the Super Regionals.

Erickson fits the profile of the two lefthanders that started on Wednesday night, J.C. Cloney and Justin Kelly, in that he doesn’t throw especially hard but does a nice job sequencing between his mid- to upper-80s fastball and sweeping 76-78 mph breaking ball.

The Chanticleers also went with a freshman, the live-armed righthanded Bilous, who improved as the season progressed and his first two innings pretty much epitomized where he’s at in his developmental process.

In the first inning he came out firing. He did miss some, but his easy 93-96 mph heat was too much for the Red Raiders hitters to catch up with initially. The pitch showed some late life down in the zone and sat right at 94. He even got the last batter of the opening inning, Cory Raley, swinging on a short yet sharp 88 mph slider.

Bilous’ talent is obvious as a slender yet wiry-strong 6-foot-2, 180-pound righthanded pitcher from Wilmington, Del. His first pitch of the game was a 94 mph fastball, and a few pitches later he hit 96. In addition to his upper-80s slider he also flashed a mid-80s changeup that also shows promise. While he was eased along slowly this past year he did make nine starts (in 15 total appearances), going 3-1 with a 4.04 ERA coming into this game.

Upon graduating from high school he was ranked the 103rd overall prospect in the nation by Perfect Game and was drafted in the 29th round of the 2015 draft by the Dodgers, but opted to honor his college commitment.

He wasn’t nearly as sharp in the second inning, as he was missing the outside corner, and despite owning low- to mid-90s heat, struggled to find a good rhythm mixing in his slider and changeup. After striking out Tyler Neslony to open the second he allowed three straight singles, and a walk (one runner was gunned down at the plate on a great throw by shortstop Michael Paez) before Stephen Smith cleared the bases with a double giving Texas Tech a brief 3-1 lead.

Coastal Carolina’s run in the top of the second came on Parrett’s first hit of the game, driving home Billy Cooke, who reached on a single and stole second base.

And they responded with three more runs in the top of the third, taking advantage of three costly errors by the Texas Tech infield. After Zach Remillard hit a one-out single, Connor Owings followed him with a double. Remillard then scored on an error, allowing G.K. Young to reach base, and then both Owings and Young scored on another error by Gutierrez at first base, pushing the score to 4-3 and giving Coastal a lead they would not relinquish.

Both teams turned to their bullpen with one out in the third inning, as Lanning and Bilous lasted only 2 1/3 innings each. Texas Tech called upon Robert Dugger and Coastal Carolina their relief ace Mike Morrison. Both pitchers played crucial roles to their teams’ success this year although neither was as sharp, or at least as effective, as what we’ve seen in the past.

Although Dugger did his part, striking out five of the first six batters he faced, which included striking out the side in the fourth, errors continued to hurt Texas Tech. After getting the Big South Player of the Year, Connor Owings, to fly out to open the fifth Young reached on yet another error. After a pair of walks Parker Mushinski replaced Dugger and allowed a run to score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Tyler Chadwick. The next batter, Parrett, came up big again by hitting a two-run single, giving him three RBI on the day and a 7-3 lead for Coastal.

“The mindset for today is one-game season,” Parrett said of his team’s win. “That's what it came down to today. And this group of guys we don't want to say goodbye to each other yet. So living for tomorrow and playing today has been awesome. And tomorrow's another one-game season. So we're very excited about that.”

Morrison gutted through his 83 pitches, getting the Chants into the bottom of the seventh before handing the ball over to Coastal’s other bullpen ace, Bobby Holmes. Morrison allowed a pair of runs in the seventh on two walks and two base hits, and headed into the eighth with a 7-5 lead.

“He definitely won't pitch tomorrow,” Gilmore said of Morrison’s 83-pitch performance. “And I seriously doubt he'll pitch on Saturday either if we're fortunate to stay in this thing. We've rode five or six guys really hard, and without jeopardizing their health and things like that. But that's the first thing he tells me when the game's over: I got an inning tomorrow. It's just who he is.”

Holmes took it from there, relying mostly in his low-80s slider to keep the Red Raiders off the basepaths, and the scoreboard, for the final 2 1/3 innings.

“I guess it's something we sort of always expect,” Holmes said of he and Morrison’s performances out of the bullpen. “Like we joke around all the time about it's our turn. But with Jason Bilous, we knew he was going to give us a shot to win and he was going to give his best, and that's what he did. It was limited, of course, but Mike stepped up huge to get me to the end of the game. I learned from him. So it was nothing really new. But, yeah, we were ready to go, and we'll be ready to go tomorrow night just as well.”

With the win Coastal Carolina advances as one of only four teams remaining and will play TCU in the nightcap of the scheduled doubleheader for Friday. They are expected to start Big South Pitcher of the Year and staff ace, Andrew Beckwith, who stymied the mighty Florida Gators on Sunday.

Texas Tech, who reached the College World Series for the second time in three years, may have seen their season come to an end but they enjoyed a phenomenal season, and like UC Santa Barbara, recorded their first-ever victory in Omaha with their elimination win over Florida on Tuesday night.

“It's a lot of fun going to the ballpark every day,” Texas Tech head coach Tim Tadlock said after the game. “These guys, they like to work at it. They show up. They've been good. They've been good in all phases. They've been good in the classroom … They've played the game the right way. And today just wasn't in the cards as far as that goes.”

 
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