UNCW Rallies For Two In The Ninth To Edge Charleston And Reach CAA Title Game
Rob Washburn
Box Score
MT. PLEASANT, S.C. (May 24, 2025) – Second-seeded UNCW rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth and edged No. 4 Charleston, 6-5, to advance to the finals of the CAA Baseball Championship on Saturday afternoon at the Ballpark at Patriots Point.
The Seahawks (34-23), who are making their ninth title game appearance in the past decade, will face top-seeded Northeastern at 5 p.m. tonight. UNCW would need to beat the Huskies twice to capture its third straight CAA championship. Charleston fell to 37-22 after the setback.
Trailing 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth, UNCW’s Mac Gillespie opened the inning with an infield single and Brock Wills followed by lacing a ground-rule double just inside the first base bag. After Gillespie scored the tying run on a Trevor Lucas groundout, the Cougars issued a pair of intentional walks to load the bases. Aidan Evans was then hit by a pitch, forcing in the winning run.
UNCW jumped on top 1-0 in the bottom of the third. Gillespie and Wills had to back-to-back singles, putting runners on the corners. The duo then executed a double steal, with Gillespie trotting home after a throw attempting to get Wills at second.
Charleston broke loose for five runs in the fifth, tallying three hits and taking advantage of three Seahawks’ errors. Tyler Sorrentino and Alex LaCoste opened the frame with singles and moved up on a wild pitch, before a fielding error plated Sorrentino. Daryian Pendergrass reached on a fielder’s choice that brought in LaCoste. Pendergrass would later beat a throw to the plate, giving the Cougars a 3-1 lead. Charleston would add another run on a balk and Dylan Johnson’s RBI single pushed the margin to four.
The Seahawks clawed back in the bottom of the sixth. Back-to-back doubles from Tanner Thach and Bryan Arendt made it 5-2 and Alec DeMartino’s sacrifice fly brought in Arendt.
UNCW closed to within 5-4 in the seventh. Lucas drew a two-out walk, advanced to second on Thach’s base hit and scored on an RBI single up the middle from Arendt.
Thach and Willis each had three hits to lead the Seahawks offensively, while Arendt was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI’s. Reliever Cyle Phelan (2-2) picked up the win after striking out two in a perfect ninth.
For Charleston, Pendergrass finished 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. The Cougars got a career-best start from right-hander Drew Medley, who limited the Seahawks to one run over the first five innings before running into trouble in the sixth.