Flagler Salvages Series With Braves

ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. – Cale Owen doubled to lead off the eighth and scored the winning run on a wild pitch moments later to help Flagler salvage its weekend series with 16th-ranked UNCP with a 4-3 win over the Braves in Sunday's series finale at Flagler Stadium.

UNCP (16-4, 6-3 PBC) plated all three runs on solo homers from Seth Kivett, Tom Porricelli and Aaron Parnell, but were held to season lows in both the runs and hits (7) column. Parnell (3-for-4) and Kivett (2-for-4) combined for five of the Black and Gold's seven hits on the day. Zach Bove (4-2) drove in a run on a 3-for-4 outing for Flagler (13-9, 4-2).

Starter Tyler Wood yielded three runs (two earned) and struck out six in registering his second quality start of the season, with closer Brian Willis (1-1) saddling the loss for the Braves despite allowing just two hits and one run in an inning of relief work. Johnny Gaines (4-2) struck out nine and pitched a seven-hit complete game in grabbing the win for the hosts.

The Braves used solo shots from Kivett and Porricelli to take a 2-0 lead into the third, but Flagler rallied for three runs in the fourth inning to take a one-run lead. Parnell's leadoff homer in the seventh would knot the score up, but Dove retired nine of the last 10 Braves he faced to secure the win.

UNCP will be back in action again on Tuesday when the Braves make the short trek to Laurinburg to battle region rival St. Andrews (3-20-1) in a 2 p.m. contest at Clark Field. The Black and Gold will return home on Wednesday to take on Pfeiffer (13-15) in a 6 p.m. contest at Sammy Cox Field.