Related: No. 16 Baseball Slips By Chowan In Series Opener

PEMBROKE – The UNC Pembroke baseball team tallied 15 runs on eight hits in the first three innings alone and finished off a midweek sweep of visiting Chowan with an 18-1 victory over the Hawks on Wednesday afternoon at Sammy Cox Field.
 
Roberto Rivera drove in a pair of runs and scored three times on a 3-for-5 day at the plate for the Braves (15-5) who have now posted 15 wins in their first 20 games for the fourth time in the last five years. It was the third-straight loss for the Hawks who fell to 3-21 all-time in the series with the Black & Gold.
 
Dale Masterson (1-0) picked up the win for the hosts in a pre-determined rotation striking out five and surrendering just two hits in four innings of work. Tre Harper (1-2) shouldered the loss for the visitors after yielding 10 runs (three earned) on four hits in 1-1/3 innings from the hill.
 
The Braves scored three times in the opening frame, but blew the contest wide open by scoring 12 more runs in the next two frames to build a 15-0 advantage. Robert Williams spoiled the shutout with a two-out solo homer in the fifth, but UNCP finished off the onslaught with two scores in the seventh and one more in the eighth.
 
UNCP will step back into Peach Belt Conference play this weekend when it heads to northeast Georgia to take on league rival Augusta (7-10, 2-4 PBC) in a three-game set at Lake Olmstead Stadium. The squads will open the weekend with a 6 p.m. contest on Friday, and close out the series with single games on Saturday (2 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.) as well.