The storms that threatened the Wilmington area earlier in the day held off long enough for UNC Wilmington to complete its game against Coastal Carolina at Brooks Field on Tuesday.

Unfortunately for UNCW, the Chanticleers still brought the thunder.

CCU (27-15) used an early assault on the Seahawks’ pitching staff, along with a few untimely errors by the defense to thump UNCW, 11-4. The Seahawks, coming off a series with Hofstra where they took two of three games, saw their record fall to 23-18 following the loss.

CCU did the majority of its offensive damage with two outs already recorded in the inning. Seven of the Chanticleers 11 runs were two-out RBI.

“Our start on the mound has not been a quality start,” said coach Mark Scalf of his pitching staff’s recent struggles. “Therefore, we have had to get into the bullpen extremely early. We haven’t been able to stop innings once they’ve gotten going.”

CCU used a four-run second inning to gain separation and put UNCW in a deep hole to start the game, leading 5-1 after the second. CCU found the scoring column in five of the first six innings and recorded 14 hits for the game.

Sophomore Michael Bass was one of the lone bright spots for the UNCW bats, going two-for-four from the plate and driving in three of the four Seahawk runs. Freshman Ryan LaGrange also went two-for-four and had an RBI.

“(Bass and LaGrange) have struggled a little bit in the last three or four games and both those guys had three real good ‘at bats’ tonight, which is nice to see,” said Scalf. “We need their help in the lineup.”

The loss dropped the Seahawks all-time record against Coastal Carolina to 50-30 and they have now dropped five straight to the Chanticleers.

Starting senior pitcher Justin Bradley received the loss for the Seahawks, dropping his season record to 3-3. Bradley lasted 1 2/3 innings before being pulled for sophomore Tom Timoney. UNCW used five pitchers in the losing effort.

“I don’t know if it’s nerves or if it’s lack of confidence with certain guys, but we just simply haven’t pitched very well and gotten off to quality starts,” said Scalf.

The Chanticleers pitching staff was just as effective as their bats. CCU pitchers, led by starter Jordan Coons, didn’t allow a single Seahawk hit in the third through the eighth innings. Coons picked up the win for CCU after pitching five innings and allowing one run off of four hits.

UNCW travels to Harrisburg, Virginia for a three-game series against conference-foe James Madison this weekend. The first pitch will be thrown at 6:30 p.m. on Friday. The Seahawks are currently in first place in the CAA with a 12-6 record.

“I want to see us grind out at-bat after at-bat, and I want to see us compete down in the zone,” said Scalf of his expectations for the upcoming series. “If we don’t compete down in the zone on the mound at JMU then it could be a few long days. That ball park is small, the balls carry and if you elevate the baseball, they have a lot of guys that can swing uphill and they’ll drive some balls out of the ballpark.”