Related: Eighth-Inning Rally Pushes Baseball To Series Win Over Augusta
PEMBROKE – Visiting Augusta matched a season high with 24 hits and scored 18 times behind an effective outing from Will Thompson to help the Jaguars fend off a weekend sweep with an 18-7 win over the UNC Pembroke baseball team on Sunday afternoon at Sammy Cox Field.
The setback put the wraps on the home portion of the 2016 schedule for the Braves (26-20, 12-15 PBC) who finished with a 21-10 record at Sammy Cox Field – the 12th-straight season that the Black & Gold has posted a winning record at its home stadium. The triumph snapped a five-game Peach Belt Conference losing streak for the Jaguars (29-16, 17-10) who kept a tight hold on the No. 4 spot in the latest league standings.
Nolan Pierce hit a pair of RBI singles and scored once to highlight a 2-for-4 day at the plate for the hosts, who also got a two-run homer from Stibel Aleman Saba in the fourth. Drew Beaver (2-for-4) turned in a pair of hits for UNCP as well.
Connor Gilbert smacked a pair of doubles and scored twice on a 4-for-6 showing for the Jaguars, who also got a 4-for-5, 3-RBI performance from Drew Taylor.
Senior Daniel Batts (3-2) yielded seven earned runs on 13 hits and a pair of walks in 4-1/3 innings of work to take the loss for the Black & Gold. Thompson (6-3) struck out six and scattered six hits and four earned runs across seven effective innings to pick up the win for Augusta.
Hitless through three innings, the Braves cut into a 4-0 deficit on Aleman Saba's no-doubter in the fourth, but Augusta responded with a 3-run fifth inning to stretch its lead out to 7-2, and then put the game away with a seven-run sixth inning. UNCP, again, whittled away at its deficit with a pair of scores in the seventh, but Augusta pushed across four insurance runs in the eighth to finish off the job.
UNCP will close out the regular season portion of its 2016 schedule next weekend when it treks to take on PBC-leading and 14th-ranked Columbus State (35-10, 20-6) in a three-game set at Ragsdale Field. The squads will open up the weekend series with a 6 p.m. contest on Friday.