Related: Late Rally Helps Georgia Southwestern Top No. 16 Baseball In Series Opener

PEMBROKE – Dalton Knight homered twice and drove in seven runs to fuel a offensive eruption for the 16th-ranked UNC Pembroke baseball team as the Braves evened up their weekend series with Georgia Southwestern on a 13-1 rout of the Hurricanes in the second half of a series-opening doubleheader on Saturday at Sammy Cox Field.

The win evened up the weekend series between the two squads, and helped the Braves (19-6, 8-6 PBC) capture their eighth win in the last nine outings. The setback marked the sixth loss in the last seven games for the Hurricanes (5-17, 3-11).

Knight fell just a triple short of hitting for the cycle in turning in a 4-for-5 hitting line. The performance fueled a 14-hit attack for UNCP who also got mult-hit outings from Daniel Fraga (2-for-4, 4 R), Victor Zecca (2-for-4, 3 R) and Drew Cole (2-for-5, RBI). Stephen Eldridge singled twice on four trips to the plate to pace the visitors.

Garrett Hickman (5-1) yielded just four hits and one walk over eight scoreless innings to pick up the win for UNCP who had its shutout bid broken up on a costly error in the ninth. Zac Wittmus (0-6) saddled the loss for Georgia Southwestern after allowing eight earned runs on as many hits and two walks in just 3-2/3 innings of work.

A sac fly from Jordan Edgerton and Knight's two-run blast in the first gave the Braves the lead for good, but Knight pushed the lead out to 4-0 on a solo homer in the third, and then clubbed a bases-clearing double with two outs in the fourth to extend the advantage out to 8-0. Consecutive RBI knocks by Edgerton and Knight in the seventh padded UNCP's lead out to 13-0.

The Braves and Hurricanes will lock horns again on Sunday at Sammy Cox Field in the series rubber game. First pitch is slated for 10 a.m. Children 12 and under are invited to run the bases following the conclusion of Sunday's contest.