DAHLONEGA, Ga. – The UNC Pembroke baseball team plated lone runs in each of the second and third innings behind a phenomenal effort from Jesse Stinnett, and then held off a late charge by North Georgia on the way to a 4-1 victory over the Nighthawks in the series opener on Friday evening at Bob Stein Stadium.
The Braves (14-6, 4-3 PBC) improved to 6-0 in series openers this season with the result, and handed skipper Paul O'Neil his 499th victory as UNCP's head coach in the process as well. It was the fourth-straight loss for North Georgia (11-8, 4-6) who had climbed as high as No. 13 in the national poll just 2-1/2 weeks ago.
Hayden Buffkin (1-for-4) hit his third home run of the season to pace the UNCP offense, which also got a 2-for-5 night from leadoff hitter Nick Salisbury. Drew Beaver (1-for-2) and Nolan Pierce (1-for-3) both knocked in key runs in the ninth for the visitors as well.
Five different players recorded lone base hits for the Nighthawks, including Connor Hoover (1-for-4) who provided the only run of the night for the hosts on a solo homer in the fourth.
Stinnett (4-0) struck out nine and scattered four hits and a pair of walks over seven splendid innings from the hill that saw him toss 115 pitches, including 77 that went for strikes. Alex Britt struck out five and did not allow a run in the eighth and ninth frames en route to tallying his fourth save of the campaign.
Preseason all-region righthander Brandon Agar (2-1) pitched into the ninth inning for the hosts, but took the loss after allowing four earned runs on seven hits and four walks. He also struck out six.
Buffkin gave UNCP the lead for good on a solo homer with one out in the third, but Stibel Aleman Saba cushioned the advantage out to a pair of runs with a fielder's choice RBI in the top of the fourth. North Georgia cut into its deficit on Hoover's solo job in the bottom of the frame, but the Braves bunkered down behind Stinnett who staved off some serious trouble in the fourth, and then faced four or less batters in two of the next three innings.
North Georgia used a hit, a single and a two-out error to load the bases in the ninth, but Britt settled down and got Ryan Tomita on a game-ending grounder to shortstop Roberto Rivera.
The Braves will close out their weekend series against North Georgia with a 2 p.m. Saturday afternoon doubleheader at Bob Stein Stadium. The series was originally scheduled to go into Sunday, but expected inclement weather forced the schedule change.
