Georgia Southern fell to Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt Championship Sunday afternoon, 9-7, behind a scoreless final five innings from the Eagles.

GS started off hot, taking an early lead. At the bottom of the first, junior infielder Steven Curry brought home the first run thanks to a hit by sophomore infielder Jason Swan and a Chanticleer fielding error.

In the second inning, sophomore outfielder Christian Avant scored on a wild pitch. He set off a scoring spree, as homers from sophomore outfielder Noah Tressler and freshman infielder Noah Ledford put the score at 6-0.

After a scoreless third inning from both teams, the Chanticleers started to pick up steam in the fourth. GS junior pitcher Seth Shuman came out after four innings of work and was relieved by sophomore pitcher Hayden Harris.

CCU scored three in the fourth, while GS responded with an RBI from Jason Swan to make the score 7-3 going into the fifth frame. This would be the last GS run of the game.

Chanticleer senior outfielder Kieton Rivers hit back to back home runs in the next two innings, and with help from a double by redshirt junior Kyle Skeels, took the lead.

GS senior pitcher Daniel Collins came to the mound halfway through the sixth, and allowed another RBI.

The final run of the game came from a CCU homer in the seventh. Senior pitcher Cole Whitney pitched exceptionally well as he was looking for a season save, only allowing two hits in his two innings of work.

Avant led the GS defense with 13 putouts and an assist, while Tressler led the offense with two runs.

This victory made the Chanticleers back to back conference champions, while GS finished the season 35-24.

Amanda Arnold, The George-Anne Sports Editor, gasports@georgiasouthern.edu