Coastal Carolina's Alex Cunningham picked a good time for his first career save.
With runners on second and third and two outs, normal starter Alex Cunningham blew a full-count fastball past Arizona's backup catcher Ryan Haug to clinch the program-defining victory, sealing their first ever College World Series title. They are the first team in 60 years to win a championship in their first ever trip to Omaha.
The win did not come easy, but the Chanticleers took advantage of four unearned runs in the sixth inning and then held on for dear life, emerging 4-3 victors and national champions. They are the second straight champion to win the series after losing Game 1.
Duel of Aces
After Game 3 was postponed from to Wednesday to Thursday, Coastal Carolina was provided with an extra day of rest for ace Andrew Beckwith, the nation's leader in wins. Beckwith was opposed on the bump by Arizona ace Bobby Dalbec, who was also drafted as a third baseman. Dalbec surrendered a leadoff single but immediately induced a double play. He retired twelve straight after the single, not surrendering another baserunner until a one-out double in the fifth inning. Beckwith had to work out of a little more trouble to keep the game scoreless. After a perfect first frame, Beckwith surrendered consecutive one-out singles in the second inning to put two on with one out. Beckwith struck out the next batter and induced an inning-ending fly out.
The third inning, the scoreless game was endangered by a bad Coastal defensive play, but it was saved by what appeared to be a botched umpire call. Cody Ramer sent a sinking line drive to right field for Arizona. Despite heading directly at Connor Owings, the ball squirted under his glove as he tried to field it on the short hop. The ball rolled to the wall, and Ramer cruised into third base. The next batter hit a high one-hopper between the pitcher's mound and third base. Beckwith snagged the ball and fired home to preserve the tie game. Catcher David Parrett caught the throw and executed a sweep tag to catch Ramer. Replay shows that Parrett missed Ramer's hand as he slid, tagging his shoulder after Ramer swept across the plate. However, Ramer was ruled out on the play, keeping the game 0-0.
Beckwith didn't have anymore serious trouble in the first five innings. He stranded a runner at second in the fourth with two outs, but the threat was never serious.
Messy 6th Inning gives Coastal the lead
The 6th inning was led off by Coastal's Parrett, a .151 hitter. Parrett worked an 8-pitch walk, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt. Another walk but two runners on base, but Dalbec got the next batter swinging for the second out. Facing cleanup hitter Zach Remillard, Dalbec threw a wild pitch that put both runners into scoring position, setting up the first run-scoring play of the game. Remillard bounced one towards Ramer at second base. Ramer muffed the chance, unable to handle to slow hopping ball cleanly, allowing Parrett to score with the first run. Ramer turned and fired to third base, where the runner had rounded too far. However, his throw was much too high. It sailed into foul territory, allowing a second run to cross the plate. Coastal had a 2-0 lead, but they weren't done. G.K. Young followed Remillard and immediately doubled the lead with a monster shot to right field.
Arizona came right back with a pair of runs in the sixth innings, both unearned tallies. A walk was sandwiched by a pair of outs in the inning, putting one on and two outs. However, Kevin Woodall Jr., the first baseman, made an error of his own for Coastal, extending the inning for Arizona. Another walk set up a two-run single from Jared Oliva, halving the deficit.
Not enough 9th inning heroics from Arizona
Arizona nearly pulled off a stunning comeback in the ninth inning off of Cunningham. Cunningham had entered in the seventh inning and got shaky in his third frame of work. After a leadoff fly out, a walk and single put runners on the corners with one out. A sacrifice fly brought the deficit to just one run for the Wildcats. Ryan Aguilar proceeded to slap a double down into the left field corner. Initially, the hit looked like it was destined to tie the game. But, in a spectacular play that doesn't show up on the box score, left fielder Anthony Marks sprinted to the ball and hurled it into the cutoff as the runner reached third base. "He would have been out by 100 feet," Arizona head coach Jay Johnson said after the game.
This brought up Haug, the backup catcher. He was only hitting because starting catcher Cesar Salazar had been injured on the backswing of a Coastal batter in the seventh inning. It was the only at-bat of the game for Haug, who was thrust into the spotlight. It was probably a matchup nobody predicted. Coastal's starting pitcher Alex Cunningham against Arizona's backup catcher Ryan Haug in the bottom of the ninth inning. Haug took a pair of pitches outside the strike zone, than cut and missed on consecutive offerings from Cunningham. Cunningham's next pitch didn't find the strike zone, bringing the count to 3-2. With the noise in the stadium at the peak, Alex Cunningham reared back and fired one more fastball, giving Coastal their first ever championship.