Coastal Carolina rallies to beat Duke baseball, sets up Monday NCAA Tournament showdown

Duke’s first crack at winning the NCAA Tournament’s Conway Regional went awry Sunday night when Coastal Carolina muscled up during a game-changing seventh-inning rally.

The Chanticleers took the lead on a Caden Bodine triple and added on with Derek Bender’s two-run homer in what became an 8-6 win over the Blue Devils at Springs Brooks Stadium in Conway, S.C.

That means Duke (37-22) and Coastal Carolina (42-20) will play a winner-take-all game Monday at 6 p.m. for the Conway Regional title and a spot in the Charlottesville Super Regional against No. 7 national seed Virginia.

“We have a ton of respect for their staff and their program,” Duke coach Chris Pollard said. “Just two really good clubs, playing really hard with a lot on the line. I don’t think I’ll sleep tonight. I just can’t wait for six o’clock tomorrow to hurry up and get here.”

Seeded No. 2 in the regional, Duke took a 5-4 lead on Damon Lux’s second-inning grand slam but could do little at the plate after that against Coastal Carolina relief pitchers Bryce Shaffer and Teddy Sharkey.

With the score tied at 5-all in the bottom of the seventh, regional top seed and No. 10 national seed Coastal Carolina took control.

Payton Eeles reached on an infield single and scored when Caden Bodine hit a ball off the right-field wall for a triple off Duke pitcher Owen Proksch (5-3).

A Duke miscue allowed the Chanticleers to add two more runs. With one out and Bodine at third, Bender hit a pop up in foul territory off the third base line. When Duke third baseman Andrew Fischer and pitcher Charlie Beilenson each thought the other would catch it, the ball dropped harmlessly to the turf.

Given second life, Bender slammed a 3-2 Beilenson pitch for a two-run homer to left giving the Chanticleers an 8-5 lead.

Alex Stone got one run back for Duke in the eighth inning with a solo home run, his second of the game. Duke had two runners on with two outs against Sharkey, but he struck out Luke Storm to end the threat.

Lux reached on an infield single to start the Duke ninth inning. But Sharkey retired the next three Blue Devils to end the game.

Each team blasted grand slams in the early innings.

Graham Brown hit a two-out grand slam in the first to put Coastal Carolina up 4-0.

Stone started the Duke second with a home run on the first pitch he saw. One out later, Gio DiGiacomo and Tyler Albright lined consecutive singles before Storm was hit by a pitch to load the bases.

Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore replaced starting pitcher Jacob Morrison with Shaffer. Facing the left-hander, Lux jumped on the first pitch and ripped a long home run well over the wall in left field giving Duke a 5-4 lead.

Coastal Carolina tied the game at 5 in the fourth inning when Eeles hit a two-out double down the right-field line driving in Ty Dooley.

Despite allowing the grand slam, Shaffer (5-1) made a big difference for Coastal Carolina. He pitched six innings, three hits and two runs. He retired 10 consecutive Duke batters between the third and sixth innings.

“We took some good swings off Shaffer,” Pollard said. ”Hit some balls hard. But at the same time, he pitched really, really well and gave them some length to get the game to Sharkey. So it was a great outing by Shaffer.”

Gilmore credited Shaffer with keeping his team in the game.

“He was a difference in the game,” Gilmore said. “I mean, our offense did all the great things but he was a difference. He gave us a chance to hang in there.”

Duke seek its third regional championship in five tournament appearances under Pollard. Prior to his arrival for the 2013 season, Duke had only played in five NCAA Tournaments in program history and had not made an appearance since 1961.

Duke played in super regional series on the road in 2018 and 2019, with both going the full three games before the Blue Devils were ousted by Texas Tech and Vanderbilt.

Pollard said he didn’t need any tough words in his postgame message to his team late Sunday night. The Blue Devils know what is at stake against Coastal Carolina on Monday night.

“We’ve got one game to get to a Super Regional,” Pollard said. “That’s an easy conversation. Our guys are fired up. With this atmosphere, with the way that game played out, I guarantee you we’ll come out ready to play them tomorrow.”