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Conway, SC -- A tough-hitting Chanticleers lineup proved to be too much for the LIU Brooklyn baseball team Friday evening at Springs Brooks Stadium, as the Blackbirds fell to top seed and host Coastal Carolina, 16-1 in the first round of the NCAA Regionals. With the loss, LIU now plays in a must-win game in the double-elimination tournament format. The Blackbirds will take on No.2 seed Connecticut, Saturday, June 2 at 12 p.m.
 
The Huskies fell to the University of Washington, 7-1 in the first game of the Regional tournament earlier in the day.
 
Early on, the game was a scoreless duel, as both starting pitchers fared well in the first few innings. Both teams would get runners in scoring position with the help of walks and errors, but it was the home team that would get on the board first. Two walks and an error would score a run for CCU in the bottom of the second, and another run came home on a sac bunt, giving Coastal a 2-0 lead. LIU starter Patrick Clyne didn't give up a hit until the top of the third. A single through the right side was Coastal's first hit of the game, but Clyne got the next three batters out to end the inning and the threat.
 
One of LIU's early chances came in the top of the second, when junior Luis Arias de los Santos was walked with one out, and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With their first runner in scoring position, the Blackbirds had a chance to get on the board, but CCU's starter Anthony Veneziano got two of his six strikeouts on the next two LIU batters, to retire the side and keep it scoreless.
 
"The key to the game for me was Anthony [Veneziano] being able to go out there and give us the outing he gave us," CCU head coach Gary Gilmore said after the game. "Offensively, it took us about four innings to get to [LIU starter Patrick] Clyne, who pitched outstanding as well there early in the game. So I thought Anthony was the difference for us."
 
Veneziano pitched 7.0 scoreless innings, giving up just three hits to the Blackbirds.
 
Junior catcher Edward Modica Jr. had LIU's first hit of the game in the top of the fourth, when he hit a double off the left center field wall. Arias was walked to put two on, but a double play and a fly out ended the inning, and the Blackbirds still trailed by two.
 
CCU would start scoring in the bottom of the fourth inning. The home team used two extra base hits and three walks to score five runs and take the 7-0 lead. They'd add five more in the fifth and four more in the seventh to take a 16-0 lead over LIU.
 
The Blackbirds got on the board in the bottom of the eighth inning. After junior Alex Briggs walked with one out and was safe at second on an error, junior catcher Brock Hallum came to the plate and hit a double down the right field line to bring him home.
 
Freshman James Steindl was a bright spot for the Blackbirds out of the bullpen, as he held the home team hitless in the bottom of the eighth inning, getting two outs and striking out the final batter for LIU's only 1-2-3 inning of the day.
 
"Coastal's a very good club with a dynamic lineup," head coach Dan Pirillo said after the game. "At the end of the day, we've got another game tomorrow. The season's not over. We have to look at it that way. We got beat today, we have to turn around and strap it up tomorrow. And I think we'll do that. We've had some tough losses this year, and we've had to come back and strap it on the next day and go. I tell them we've got to turn the page. That's our thought process for tomorrow. It's gonna be tough, but I think we're resilient enough and mentally strong enough that I don't think we'll let today's loss bother us. We'll have a meeting, talk about it, and then in the morning we'll take BP and try and do it again tomorrow."
 
The Blackbirds take on UConn, Saturday, June 2 at 12 p.m. The game will air live on ESPN3.