PEMBROKE – Seventh-ranked UNCP registered its 21st double-digit hitting attack of the season and strung together four second-inning runs to key a 7-4 victory over visiting St. Augustine's on Wednesday evening at Sammy Cox Field.

The triumph gave the Braves (33-7) their best 40-game start in school history, while also stretching their winning streak out to six games. The setback marked the 32nd-straight loss in the series for St. Augustine's (32-16) who came into the contest toting a productive stretch that had it winning 13 of its previous 15 outings. UNCP has now won 35 of the 39 games with the Falcons.

The Braves got seven hits from the first three players in its batting order, including Josh Haley who doubled and scored to highlight a perfect 3-for-3 outing. Keith Whitman (2-for-3) doubled twice on three trips to the plate, while Aaron Parnell homered for the second time this season en route to booking a 2-for-4 outing. Alex Pearce singled, walked and scored twice on a 1-for-2 hitting line as well.

Josh Bishop singled, doubled and scored a run on a 2-for-3 plate performance for the visitors. Rashad Ingram, who rolled into Pembroke toting an NCAA-best 70 stolen bases, drove in a run on a 1-for-4 day at the plate with no stolen bases.

Tyler Wood (4-1) struck out six and surrendered just a pair of earned runs in five innings from the hill to pick up his first victory since mid-February, while Brantley Hattrich worked a hitless seventh and final inning en route to grabbing his first career save. Alex Didio (8-7) saddled the loss for St. Augustine's after surrendering seven runs (three earned) on 10 hits and a pair of walks over his 12th complete game of the campaign. He also struck out two.

Whitman's RBI double in the first inning gave the Braves an early lead, but the hosts utilized three hits and a pair of costly errors in the second to plate four more runs and stretch the advantage out to 5-0. Joe Pierce's run-scoring single in the third gave St. Augustine's its first run of the contest, but the hosts answered with a two-run home run by Parnell in the bottom of the frame to pad its lead out to six, 7-1.

The Falcons would not go away without a fight, however, and scored another run on Ingram's RBI groundout in the fifth, before getting a two-run knock from Mike Wallace in the sixth.

UNCP will step back into Peach Belt Conference play this weekend when the Braves make the short trip to Florence, S.C., to battle 12th-ranked and PBC-leading Francis Marion (29-10, 13-5 PBC). The squads will open up the weekend with a 1 p.m. Saturday afternoon doubleheader before closing out the series on Sunday in a 1 p.m. single game.