Chanticleers pull away late to advance past Wildcats

OMAHA, Neb. -- Coastal Carolina scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a tie and beat Arizona 7-4 in the opening game of the College World Series on Friday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field.

Sebastian Alexander's bloop single scored Wells Sykes for the go-ahead run, and Blake Barthol belted a two-run double in the next at-bat to send the Chanticleers (54-11) to their 24th consecutive win.

Sykes also had a two-run single in the second that gave Coastal an early lead.

The game was a rematch of the 2016 CWS championship series, won by Coastal in three games. This is the program's first trip back to Omaha since.

Cameron Flukey got the win with four innings of relief, and Dominic Carbone finished it out for his sixth save.

Arizona (44-20) took a 4-3 lead in the top of the sixth without a ball leaving the infield. The Wildcats took advantage of three hit batters, a bunt single and a groundout.

The hit was by catcher Adonys Guzman, who was 3-for-4, while Mason White hit a solo home run in the second for the Wildcats.

Coastal will face the winner of Friday's late game between Louisville and Oregon State in Sunday's winner's bracket. Arizona, meanwhile, gets the loser in an elimination game Sunday.

--Field Level Media