CONWAY, S.C. –Coastal Carolina scored in each of the first five innings, racing out to a 12-2 advantage on ten hits to cruise to a series victory with a 12-3 win over Longwood Friday night at Springs Brooks Stadium.

A week after a masterful performance against High Point, Longwood starter Brandon Vick (1-4) couldn't recreate the magic as Coastal Carolina tagged the senior with seven hits for eight runs, assisted by four Longwood errors. The southpaw lasted just 3 2/3 innings in allowing the eight runs, six of which were earned in the loss.

The Chanticleers used a big fourth inning to blow the game open, scoring four times on just three hits. Coastal Carolina (23-7,7-1) took advantage of a pair of hit batsmen in the inning as well, sending 10 men to the plate. The very next frame, the Chanticleers put away any doubt in the outcome as shortstop Michael Paez deposited a grand slam over the left center field wall, making the score 12-2.

Longwood (12-17, 3-8) swung the bats well in the middle game of the series, once again plating a run in the first on three straight one-out hits from Connar Bastaich, Kyri Washington and Travis Biddix. For the second night in a row, Bastaich was stellar at the plate going 2-for-3 with a run scored, making him 5-for-7 in the series.

"I thought we made some mistakes early that really cost us," said head coach Ryan Mau. "Unfortunately, that affected Brandon's outing and things got away from us."

With runners on the corners in the top of the first, senior co-captain Travis Biddix delivered his team-leading 23rd RBI of the season with a perfectly placed bunt-single to the right side, staking the Lancers to a 1-0 lead. Unfortunately, the Lancers surrendered a run in the bottom half in a spurt of déjà vu from Thursday night's opener.

On this night, however, Coastal Carolina did not fall silent after the early run, as the Chanticleers added two in the second on three hits, capped by Al Molina's two-out, two-RBI single down the right field line.

Longwood, was not finished yet, scoring in the top half of the third inning to cut the lead to 3-2. Once more it was the top of the order getting the job done as Colton Konvicka roped a double to left center with one out and advanced to third on Bastaich's second hit of the game. A batter later, Kyri Washington bounced into a fielder's choice, but beat out the double play attempt to score Konvicka.

It was back to a one-run game, but that was as close as the Lancers would come as Coastal scored once in the bottom half before blowing the game open with four runs in both the fourth and fifth innings off a combination of Zach Potojecki and Devin Gould, including Paez's grand slam in the fifth off the latter. That closed Coastal's incredible start to the game in which the Chanticleers scored in each of the first five innings and amassed 12 runs.

With the game well out of hand, freshman pitcher Chase McPherson came out of the bullpen and put up the first zero of the night in the bottom half of the sixth. The rookie southpaw induced two pop-ups before freezing Jack Curtis with a perfect back-door curveball to end the inning. McPherson followed with another solid frame in the seventh, working around a pair of singles to keep Coastal off the board for a second-consecutive inning.

McPherson would close out the game by working around a two-out single in the eighth to finish off his longest outing to-date. The rookie's final line read three innings of shutout ball, scattering three hits and striking out a pair in his best outing of the year.

"That's not an easy situation," said Mau of the freshman entering with a 12-2 deficit. "Chase did an outstanding job after not seeing action for quite some time. I'm really proud of how he competed for us and put up zeros to finish the game."

The Lancers would use every available position player in Friday's game, allowing for some regulars to get rare rest in the late innings. Tyler Barry lined a leadoff single to center in the top of the eighth before Garrett Paul drew a walk in his first plate appearance of the 2015 season. Back-to-back singles from Michael Osinski and Brandon Delk would plate the Lancers' third run of the game, making the final score 12-3.

Longwood and Coastal Carolina are set to conclude the series Saturday afternoon at Springs Brooks Stadium as the Lancers look to salvage a game against the Chanticleers. Due to forecasted morning rain, the series finale has been pushed back one hour to 3 p.m.

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