MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – Coastal Carolina RHP Josh Conway struck out 12 College of Charleston batters as the #18 Cougars suffered their first loss of the season by a 12-3 score to the Chanticleers Wednesday evening at Patriots Point. Charleston falls to 8-1 on the season, while Coastal improves to 5-4.

The Chants jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the top of the second on a two-run home run by Daniel Bowman down the left-field line and a RBI groundout by Conway. Coastal put three more on the board in the third as Bowman picked up his second round-tripper of the night, a three-run shot to left for a 6-0 Coastal lead.

The Cougars got on the board in the bottom of the third frame on a solo home run to right by redshirt-junior DH Rob Kral (Randolph, N.J.) and cut the deficit to 6-2 in the sixth on a solo blast by redshirt-junior 3B Matt Leeds (Boca Raton, Fla.).

Coastal extended its lead to 8-2 in the seventh on a two-run double to left by Rich Witten and added a single run in the eighth on a bases-loaded walk to Tommy La Stella. The Chants put the game out of reach in the top of the ninth, drawing five walks and scoring three more runs to open a 12-2 advantage.

Leeds added another solo home run in the bottom of the ninth, his fourth of the season, to close out the scoring. Leeds finished the game 2-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs. Bowman went 2-for-3 for Coastal with six RBIs and three runs scored. Senior RHP Robert Jeroszko (Greenville, S.C.) took the loss for the Cougars, allowing six runs on five hits in three innings. Charleston allowed 10 hits and issued 13 walks on the evening.

The Cougars return to action this weekend in the CofC Classic. Charleston welcomes Auburn, Western Kentucky and New York Tech to Patriots Point for the weekend and face Western Kentucky Friday night at 5:00 p.m.