PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke baseball team rallied for a pair of runs in both the first and fourth innings behind a solid outing from newcomer Jesse Stinnett and the Braves improved to 15-1 in season openers under head coach Paul O'Neil with a 6-1 victory over Pitt-Johnstown on Saturday at Sammy Cox Field.

Justin Dattilo doubled, homered and drove in a trio of runs on a perfect 4-for-4 outing for the Braves (1-0), who also got a pair of hits from Christian Snider (2-for-4, R) and Stibel Aleman Saba. Six different players registered base hits for the Mountain Cats (0-1).

Stinnett (1-0), a transfer from Maryland-Eastern Shore, struck out seven and yielded just five hits over five solid innings of work from the hill to grab the win for the hosts, while Justin Pegram worked two hitless innings of relief to notch his first save of the season. Luke Miller (0-1) saddled the loss for the visitors after allowing four earned runs on six hits in four innings of work. He also struck out two.

Dattilo crushed a two-run shot over the left field fence to give UNCP a quick 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first, and UNCP pushed its advantage out to 4-1 in the fourth on knocks by Alex Minton and Roberto Rivera. Dattilo singled in another run in the fifth, and Hayden Buffkin launched a solo shot to left field to cap the scoring in the eighth.