WINGATE – The UNC Pembroke baseball team recorded its 23
rd double-digit hit attack of the season and used back-to-back home runs from
Ethan Baucom and
Nick Debo in the top of the first inning to fuel a 6-1 win over Wingate on Tuesday evening at Ron Christopher Stadium.
The triumph helped the Braves (27-11) finish off a season sweep of their U.S. 74 rivals, and extended the win streak for the Black & Gold out to six games. Wingate (17-23), who also dropped a 7-3 decision on March 21 in Pembroke, has now dropped seven of its last 10 outings.
Freshman
River Ryan doubled in a run and scored once on a 2-for-3 night at the plate to pace the visitors, while
Stibel Aleman Saba (2-for-4) registered a pair of hits as well. Debo (1-for-3, BB) registered his team-leading ninth homer of the season, while Baucom (1-for-5) tacked up the fifth four-bagger of his rookie campaign.
Trent Wynn and Bradley Brown both turned in 2-for-4 hitting lines for the Bulldogs, while Ty Andrus (2-for-5) recorded a pair of hits as well.
Hank Simpson (3-0) scattered three hits and a lone earned run over three innings of work to grab the win in a preset rotation for UNCP, while
Hayden Buffkin struck out one and yielded just a pair of hits over three scoreless frames to earn his first career save. Alex Rodriguez (0-3) surrendered five hits and as many earned runs in five innings from the hill to take the loss for the Bulldogs.
Nick Salisbury laced a one-out single into centerfield to get something going for the Braves in the first, before Baucom and Debo hit back-to-back jacks later in the inning to forge a quick 3-0 lead. The teams traded lone runs in the third, and the Braves pushed across a pair of insurance runs in the sixth thanks to RBI singles from Aleman Saba and Ryan.
UNCP will step back into Peach Belt Conference play this weekend when it treks to St. Augustine, Fla., to battle Flagler (25-16, 12-6) in an Easter weekend series at Drysdale Field. The squads will open up the set with a 6 p.m. contest on Friday, before closing out the series with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.