Box Score PEMBROKE – UNCP put up its 21st double-digit hitting attack of the season to support a phenomenal outing from right-hander Connor Pratt and Paul O'Neil picked up his 400th win as the Braves skipper in an 11-0 rout of visiting Wingate on Tuesday evening at Sammy Cox Field.
It was the 16th win for the Braves (23-8) in the last 17 outings with their region nemesis and helped UNCP continue a recent run of success that has it winning 10 of the last 13 contests. The setback snapped an eight-game winning streak for the Bulldogs (22-13).
Drew Alford (3-for-4) and Jordan Edgerton (3-for-5) each recorded a pair of hits for the Braves who also got multi-hit nights from three other players as well. Daniel Fraga doubled and drove in a trio of runs on a 2-for-3 performance, Dalton Knight tallied three RBI as well on a 2-for-5 hitting line and Drew Cole scored a run on a 2-for-4 night.
Four different players turned in singles for the visitors.
Pratt (1-1) struck out two and scattered four hits and a walk over six strong innings from the hill to grab his first win of the season, while Dale Innes and closer Patrick McMahon shut down the Bulldogs the rest of the way out. C.J. Harris (1-5) surrendered seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and a walk en route to his fifth-straight loss for Wingate.
The Braves took a 1-0 lead in the first despite not recording a hit in the frame, and then extended the advantage out to 3-0 with two more scores in the fifth. The Black & Gold would send its entire order to the plate en route to scoring four runs in each of the seventh and eighth innings as well.
UNCP will hit the road again this weekend when it treks to Dahlonega, Ga., to battle Peach Belt Conference rival North Georgia (9-18, 3-9 PBC) in an Easter Weekend series at Bob Stein Stadium. The squads will open up the set with a 2 p.m. doubleheader on Friday and close out the series with a 1 p.m. single game on Saturday.