OMAHA, Neb. – Coastal Carolina claimed its first NCAA National Championship in school history with a 4-3 victory over Arizona Thursday afternoon at TD Ameritrade Park in game three of the 2016 Men’s College World Series.
With Coastal Carolina (55-18) throwing ace Andrew Beckwith and Arizona (49-24) going with Bobby Dalbec, the contest was highlighted by five consecutive scoreless frames and just seven combined hits prior to the start of the sixth inning.
Beckwith (15-1) and Dalbec (11-6) each escaped situations early in the game with runners just 90 feet from home plate. Wildcats’ second baseman Cody Ramer was called out on a 1-2 putout at home while attempting to score from third in the third inning, and the Chanticleers stranded runners on the corners to end the fifth.
It wasn’t until the top of the sixth, thanks to two walks and two consecutive errors, Coastal Carolina took its lead. Dalbec issued a leadoff walk to David Parrett and walked Michael Paez one batter later. With runners standing at first and third, a couple of fielding miscues by a panicked Arizona infield led to a 2-0 lead for CCU. Zach Remillard sent a dribbler toward the middle, but Ramer was unable to field the ball cleanly. After bobbling the ball, Ramer unleashed a wild throw toward third base that careened off the dugout fencing. Both Paez and Parrett came around to score.
Trailing 2-0 in the sixth, Arizona’s deficit only grew two pitches later. Ahead in the count, 0-2, Dalbec was taken deep to right by G.K. Young. The two-run shot extended Coastal’s lead to 4-0.
The Wildcats dented the Chanticleers’ advantage, 4-2, in the bottom of the sixth with a timely two-out hit. Jared Oliva lined a bases-loaded single through the left side to plate Cesar Salazar and Kyle Lewis, but the Coastal Carolina bullpen took over shortly after and contained Arizona for the remainder of the contest.
Right-hander Bobby Holmes pitched one-third of an inning, getting the Chanticleers out of a two-on, two-out jam in the sixth with a strikeout, and junior Alex Cunningham gave up one run on two hits through the final three innings en route to earning his first save. Arizona threatened in the bottom of the ninth, following a sacrifice fly from Zach Gibbons to pull his team within one run of tying, but Cunningham came up with a big strikeout to end the game with two runners on base.
