CONWAY – Connor Owings hit two home runs to lift Coastal Carolina past Liberty 7-4 Saturday as the Chanticleers tied a three-game series.
With Coastal Carolina trailing 3-2 in the sixth, Owings drilled a two-run shot to right field to put the Chanticleers ahead 4-3. It sparked a five-run inning that helped Coastal put the game away.
Owings bit blast helped Coastal recover from a difficult top half of the sixth. They entered the inning leading 2-1 before Liberty scored two runs. The go-ahead run resulted from a mental error by relief pitcher Brock Hunter. With the bases loaded and only one out, Hunter fielded a grounder that came straight back to the mound. Rather than throwing home to get a force out at the plate, he tossed the ball to first. That allowed a runner to score from third to give Liberty a 3-2 lead.
Owings homer the next inning erased the frustration of Hunter’s mistake. Owings also homered in the third to put Coastal ahead 2-0. He now has three homers in two games.
Coastal and Liberty are now tied for second in the Big South standings at 15-5, one game behind Radford. They play a rubber game Sunday.
Owings powers CCU past Liberty 7-4
