MONTGOMERY, Ala. (Interstat) — Darin Horn pitched five sharp innings and Coastal Carolina used a five-run burst in the sixth and seventh innings to defeat Appalachian State 8-2 on Thursday evening at Montgomery Riverwalk Stadium, the neutral site for the Sun Belt contest.

The Chanticleers improved to 37-20 overall while the Mountaineers fell to 29-24.

Horn allowed two hits and one earned run while striking out eight over five innings. He combined with reliever Cameron Flukey, who worked four innings, gave up two hits and one earned run and struck out six. The pair held Appalachian State to four hits total.

Coastal Carolina’s offense pounded out 14 hits, led by designated hitter Trace Mazon III, who went 3 for 4 with two runs batted in. Right fielder Rex Watson was 2 for 2 with an RBI, and catcher Domenico Tozzi hit his fourth home run of the season, a solo shot in the fourth inning.

Appalachian State starting pitcher Nick Dirito took the loss. He allowed five earned runs on no hits over 5 2/3 innings, striking out six. Reliever Jordan Fisher tossed a scoreless inning with two strikeouts, and Everette Harris recorded two strikeouts in two-thirds of an inning.

The game turned in the bottom of the sixth with the score tied at 2. Coastal Carolina’s Darin Horn doubled to deep right field, driving in pinch-runner Sean Pado to give the Chanticleers a 3-2 lead. After a wild pitch advanced Horn to third, shortstop Ty Barrango doubled to left field to score Horn and make it 4-2.

In the seventh, the Chanticleers added three more runs. Watson doubled to right center, scoring Andrew Barthol. Mazon followed with a single to left that brought home Watson, pushing the lead to 6-2. After a pitching change, an error by Appalachian State third baseman Mason Puig allowed Mazon to score from first, and the Chanticleers led 7-2.

Appalachian State scored its only runs in the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, catcher Luke Smith grounded out to second, bringing home Kameron Soul from third to cut the lead to 3-2. In the sixth, first baseman Miller grounded out to second, scoring Puig, who had tripled, to tie the game at 3.

Coastal Carolina had taken a 2-0 lead in the third inning on a throwing error that allowed Ty Barrango to score and a single by Mazon that brought home Barthol. Tozzi’s homer in the fourth made it 3-0.

Appalachian State threatened in the ninth when reliever Flukey allowed a double to Mummau and a walk to Soul, but a popout ended the game.

Coastal Carolina’s victory was its third straight over Appalachian State this season, following a three-game sweep in March. The Mountaineers had lost four of their previous five games entering Thursday.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Coastal Carolina 5, Appalachian State 4. Interstat’s ELO system gave Coastal Carolina a 75 percent probability to win, and the Chanticleers were installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1.5.