PEMBROKE – Hayden Buffkin's walk-off single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth plated Luke Jackson with the game-winning score that helped the UNC Pembroke baseball team rally back from a late deficit to top Montevallo, 6-5, in the Peach Belt Conference opener for both teams on Friday at Sammy Cox Field.
The win kept the Braves (7-0, 1-0 PBC) unbeaten through seven games and helped the club capture its PBC opener for the fifth-straight year. The loss snapped a five-game win streak for Montevallo (5-4, 0-1). The clubs will resume their weekend set on Saturday at 2 p.m. in Pembroke.
Buffkin doubled and scored in the second as well and finished the day with a 4-for-5 hitting line to lead the Black & Gold, while Nick Debo hit a solo home run to highlight a 2-for-3 day at the plate. Taylor Walker singled, doubled and scored twice on a 2-for-5 showing to pace the Falcons, while Jeremy Hyde belted a solo homer to earmark a 2-for-3 outing.
Alex Britt (2-0) struck out one in a hitless ninth inning to pick up his second win in three days for the Braves who utilized the services of four pitchers on Friday. Trent Higginbotham (1-2) was tagged with the loss after allowing one run on three hits in 1-1/3 innings of relief.
Walker singled to lead off the second and later scored on Chad Wagner's (3-for-4) one-out single through the left side that gave the Falcons the early lead, but Buffkin led off the bottom of the frame with a double and scored moments later on a triple by Stibel Aleman Saba.
Debo hit a solo shot in the third to put the Braves out in front, and the hosts padded their lead out to a pair of runs in the fifth when Roberto Rivera swiped third base and scored on an errant throw down. Montevallo, however, would score twice in the sixth to knot things back up, and then went ahead in the eighth on a two-out single by Daniel Pardo that brought in a pair of scores.
Higginbotham beaned Beaver to lead off the bottom of the ninth, but Montevallo appeared to have warded off any kind of scoring threat when UNCP hit into a double play minutes later. Jackson drew a free pass with the next at-bat via UM's fourth hit batter of the day, and then moved to third on a wild pitch to set the table for Buffkin's dramatics.
