Alex Cunningham, a graduate of Byrnes High School, struck out the last Arizona batter to help Coastal Carolina win its first College World Series baseball championship on its first trip to Omaha, Neb.
Arizona had runners on second and third with two out when former Byrnes grad Alex Cunningham, a junior righthander, struck out the final Arizona player.
Coastal led 4-2 going into Arizona's final at-bat. Arizona scored a run on a sacrifice fly. Cunningham gave up a double just fair inside the left field foul line to put the tying and winning runs at third and second, respectively. He went to 3-2 on the final batter before getting the game-ending strikeout.
Coastal Carolina (55-18) became the first team since Minnesota in 1956 to win the title in its first CWS appearance. Arizona (49-24) was trying for its second national title since 2012 but came up just short in a season in which it was picked to finish ninth in the Pac-12.
The Chanticleers lost Game 1 to Arizona and came back to take Game 2 to force the championship game. Wednesday’s Game 3 was postponed until 1 p.m. Thursday.
Cunningham pitched Coastal into the CWS finals with a 7-5 victory last Saturday night that eliminated Texas Christian University. Coastal also had to comeback from an 0-1 deficit to beat TCU in the best-of-three in the CWS to reach the finals.
Cunningham finished the season 10-4.
Coastal Carolina will celebrate its Omaha run on Friday with a short parade in Conway and a fan event a Springs Brooks Stadium on campus.