Related: Columbus State Knots Up Weekend Series With No. 16 Baseball

PEMBROKE – Visiting Columbus State used three home runs to account for all of its run production and utilized a trio of double plays to stymie a handful of scoring opportunities for the 16^th-ranked UNC Pembroke baseball team as the Cougars captured the weekend series with a 5-3 win over the Braves on Sunday in Pembroke.
 
Newcomers Lucas Ledford and Jarratt Mobley both turned in 2-for-4 performances to pace the Braves (14-4, 1-2 PBC) who hit just 2-for-17 with runners on base in the outing. Mason McClellan (3-for-4, 3 RBI) hit a pair of home runs for the Cougars, while Drew Webb (1-for-3) provided the gut-wrenching long ball with a 2-run shot in the ninth.
 
Jesse Stinnett (2-2) hurled three solid innings of relief for the Black & Gold, but ultimately absorbed the loss after yielding a one-out walk and Webb's knock in the final frame. Perez Knowles (2-0) grabbed the win in relief for the Cougars after limiting the hosts to just two hits in 2-2/3 scoreless innings of work.
 
UNCP utilized a pair of ill-timed fielding errors by CSU to plate a pair of runs in the second, but the Cougars knotted things back up on a 2-run homer by McClellan with one gone in the third. The Braves went ahead again on a sac fly from Roberto Rivera in the fifth, but McClellan tied things back up on a leadoff homer in the sixth.
 
The Braves had runners at the corners with one out in both of the seventh and eighth innings but Knowles induced inning-ending double plays in both situations. UNCP also hit into a double play after getting their leadoff batter aboard in the third.
 
UNCP will close out a five-game home stand with a rare midweek series against Chowan (8-9) on Tuesday (6 p.m.) and Wednesday (3 p.m.) at Sammy Cox Field.