PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke baseball team strung together five runs in the first inning behind a quality start from junior Logan Cook as the Braves won their season opener for the eighth-straight year with an 11-5 victory over Anderson on Saturday afternoon at Sammy Cox Field.

Cody Adkins drove in four runs on a 3-for-4 hitting line to pace UNCP (1-0), while Chad Whitehead tallied a pair of doubles and scored twice on a perfect 2-for-2 showing at the plate. Drew Cole, Collins Cuthrell and Ben Schmucker each scored a pair of runs for the hosts as well.

L.J. Newman registered a pair of doubles on a 3-for-4 day to lead the Trojans (0-1).

Cook (1-0) struck out six and scattered five hits over six quality innings from the hill to pick up the win for the Braves. Anderson starter Spencer Earle (0-1) did not make it out of the first inning and was tagged with the loss after yielding five earned runs on four hits and two walks.

Adkins keyed a 5-run first inning for the hosts with a three-run double to the gap in left field, but the Braves led by as much as 9-0 after tacking up two runs in each of the third and fifth innings as well. The Trojans cut into their deficit with two runs of their own in the top of the sixth, but UNCP countered with consecutive RBI knocks by Adkins and Drew Beaver in the bottom of the frame.