PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke baseball team erupted for multiple runs three times in the first four innings to build a 12-2 advantage, but were forced to hold off a late-inning rally by Pitt-Johnstown en route to a weekend-clinching 13-7 win over the Mountain Cats on Saturday evening at Sammy Cox Field.

Stibel Aleman Saba hit a second-inning grand slam to highlight a perfect 4-for-4, 5-RBI night at the plate for the Braves (2-0), while Christian Snider homered and scored three times on a 3-for-5 night. Justin Dattilo (2-for-3) turned in a multi-hit performance for the second-straight game, while Drew Beaver clubbed his first homer of the season for the hosts as well.

Pitt-Johnstown (0-2) got multi-hit nights from four different players, including Nate Negri who doubled to fuel a 3-for-4 hitting line. Jake Stern, Luke Williams and Dylan Kerstetter each added a pair of hits.

Daniel Batts (1-0) struck out six in just 2-1/3 innings of relief work to notch the victory for UNCP who utilized the services of four arms in the contest. Nathan Bearer (0-1) took the loss for Pitt-Johnstown after surrendering six earned runs on three hits (two home runs) and a trio of walks.

The Mountain Cats struck for a pair of runs in the top of the first inning to light up the scoreboard first, but Aleman Saba's grand slam highlighted a 6-run second inning for the Braves that gave them the lead for good. The Braves tacked up four more runs in the fourth to push their lead out to double digits, but the Mountain Cats plated five runs over the next two frames to claw back into the contest.

Batts took the hill with two outs in the sixth and walked the first batter he faced, but cooled off the UPJ rally by retiring eighth of the next nine batters he faced, including six via strikeout. Snider's solo homer with two outs in the eighth would cap the scoring.

UNCP and Pitt-Johnstown will close out the weekend with the series finale on Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for noon at Sammy Cox Field.