PEMBROKE – Home-standing and 11th-ranked UNCP broke open a close game with four runs in the sixth inning and rode a phenomenal outing from right-hander Dale Innes to a series-clinching 7-2 victory over Francis Marion on Sunday afternoon at Sammy Cox Field.

The triumph helped the Braves (28-10, 16-8 PBC) register its first series victory over the Patriots since 2001 and clinch a winning record in Peach Belt Conference play for the third time in four years. The setback marked just the second loss in the last six outings for the Patriots (18-15, 11-9).

UNCP used multi-hit outings from three different players to put up its sixth-straight double-digit hit attack (27th overall). Daniel Fraga drove in a run and scored three times on a 2-for-5 hitting line, while Dalton Knight and Drew Alford both recorded 2-for-4 days. Jordan Edgerton drove in two runs and walked twice on a 1-for-2 showing as well.

Rhodes Dickerson hit his first home run of the season to highlight one of three 2-for-4 outings for the Patriots. Brett Fulmer and Isaac Davenport both accomplished that feat as well.

Making his first start in more than a month, Innes (5-1) dominated for much of the game and grabbed his third-straight win after scattering five hits and walking three in seven innings from the hill. He also struck out seven. Gary Ashcraft (4-4) was tagged with the loss for the visitors after surrendering nine hits and six runs (five earned) in 5-1/3 innings of work.

Dickerson helped Francis Marion rally back from an early 1-0 deficit with a two-out solo homer in the second, but it would be the only offense the Patriots would muster until the game was already out of reach in the eighth. The Braves took the lead for good on Edgerton's RBI single up the middle in the fifth, and then pocketed the win with the game-changing sixth. Drew Cole's RBI groundout in the seventh would push the lead out to 7-1.

The Braves will open up a four-game road trip on Wednesday when they head to Hickory for a 4 p.m. matchup with Lenoir-Rhyne (18-26) at Bears Field. UNCP will hit the road again on Friday and Saturday for a three-game series against Erskine in Due West, S.C.

To watch the full game click PART 1 or PART 2.