AUGUSTA, Ga. – Justin Dattilo's sacrifice fly with one out in the top of the fifth helped the UNC Pembroke baseball team stake claim to a 5-1 lead, but Augusta rallied for a trio of runs in the bottom of the frame and three more in the eighth to stun the Braves, 7-5, in the opening game of a two-day series at Lake Olmstead Park.
 
Hayden Buffkin doubled in a run and scored once on a 3-for-4 night at the plate for the Braves (15-6, 1-3 PBC) who have now dropped three-straight Peach Belt Conference games. Stibel Aleman Saba walked twice and registered his first home run of the season on a 1-for-2 tally, while Ethan Baucom scored twice on a 2-for-4 hitting line.
 
Ty Hobbs, Adam Spurlin and Carrington Evans all went deep for the Jaguars (8-10, 3-4), while Cole Janousek drove in a pair of runs on a 3-for-5 showing.
 
Jesse Stinnett (2-3) yielded three earned runs on a pair of hits and four walks in 2-1/3 innings of relief to take the loss for the Braves. Cody Pugh (2-0) struck out two and allowed a harmless single in two scoreless innings of relief for the Jags, while Joey Stillwell worked a scoreless ninth to grab his third save of the campaign.
 
Aleman Saba gave the Black & Gold a 2-0 lead with a two-run bomb to right field in the second, and Roberto Rivera made it a 3-0 game in the third on a run-scoring triple to right field. The Jaguars got on the board via a solo homer from Hobbs in the fourth, but UNCP scored twice more in the sixth to go out in front, 5-1.
 
Spurlin (2-run) and Evans hit back-to-back home runs in the home half of the sixth to pull the hosts to within a single run, and Augusta finished off the comeback with three more runs on the shoulders of a two-out rally in the eighth.
 
The squads will close out the weekend series with a doubleheader on Saturday at Lake Olmstead Stadium. First pitch of the twinbill is slated for 1 p.m.