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Box Score 2 Related: Edgerton Homers Twice, No. 16 Baseball Clinches Series At Wingate
WINGATE – Wingate right-hander Ben Currie limited the 16th-ranked UNC Pembroke baseball team to a season-low two hits and handed the Braves their first shutout since 2011 as the Bulldogs avoided a weekend sweep with a 2-0 win in the second half of a series-closing doubleheader on Saturday at Ron Christopher Stadium.
The setback marked the first time in 154 games that the Braves (27-11) failed to plate a run, but UNCP still walked away with the series victory after an 8-2 win on Friday evening in Pembroke, as well as a 9-6 triumph earlier on Saturday. Wingate (24-12) stopped a two-game slide with the result, while also picking up the third win in the last 20 series matchups with the Black & Gold.
Max Gagnon reached base on both trips to the plate via a hit by pitch and a single to finish with a perfect 1-for-1 hitting line for the visitors. Drew Cole tallied the only other base hit for the Braves in the contest. Eric Serra, who homered in each of the first two games of the weekend set, registered a 3-for-3 outing in the series finale to pace the hosts.
Andy Sullivan (4-1) was handed his first loss of the season despite yielding just seven hits and two earned runs across his first complete game of 2014. Currie (7-1) struck out four and surrendered just two hits in recording his fifth complete game of the season, as well as his fourth shutout.
Josh Clark was a part of both scoring plays on the day for the Bulldogs after giving the hosts their first run on a RBI groundout in the fourth, and then singling in Shane Billings on a one-out single in the sixth. UNCP had its best chance to score in the top half of the sixth, but Cole's single was scooped up on the run by Justin Somers who then gunned down Gagnon at the plate.
The Braves will close out a three-game road trip on Tuesday when they head to Hartsville, S.C., to take on Coker (19-15) in the first half of a home-and-away series at Tom J. New Field. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. UNCP will welcome the Cobras to Pembroke on Wednesday for a 6 p.m. first pitch at Cox Field.
