SALISBURY – Fourth-seeded UNC Pembroke faced another early deficit, but chipped away at the Young Harris lead before eventually falling 9-7 in elimination game action Saturday afternoon at Newman Park.
The Braves brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth after
Joey Rezek's two-run blast, his 22nd of the year, cut the lead in half, but the Mountain Lions got a fly out to end the game and season for the Black & Gold.
Will Hood paced the offense with a 3-4, two-homer, four RBI day, while Rezek's 22 home runs are the most by a Brave since Collins Cuthrell hit 25 during the 2015 season.
Spencer Ledford kept the Braves in the game with 3 2/3 scoreless and hitless innings, walking just one to go along with five strikeouts.
The Braves (43-14) fell to 18-8 in the all-time series with the Mountain Lions (41-14).
The 43 wins are the second-most in school history, falling one short of tying the record set by the 2011 club.
UNCP's 92 home runs as a team shattered the previous school record of 73 set by the 2015 squad, while the 554 runs scored established a new school record as well, also breaking the record set in 2015.
Spencer Faulkner finished his UNCP career with 240 hits, good for sixth all-time in program history.
| GAME SUMMARY |
| FINAL SCORE |
Young Harris 9, UNC Pembroke 7 |
| PITCHERS |
WP: Dylan Beck (10-2) LP: Will Harris (6-1) Save: None |
| RECORDS |
UNC Pembroke 43-14; Young Harris 41-14 |
| KEY INNINGS |
| BOT 1 |
Jack Enrico got the Mountain Lions on the board first with an RBI double, while Jeremy Begora followed with a 2-run blast. Young Harris would score two more on a Braves error to take a 5-0 lead after one inning. |
| TOP 3 |
Will Hood led off the frame with a solo blast to right center to make it a 5-1 game. |
| BOT 3 |
Young Harris answered back with a Jace Wilson RBI double to make it 6-1. |
| TOP 4 |
Kody O'Connor led off with a double and would score on Jake Bradley's RBI single, before Hood struck again, this time a 2-run shot to cut the deficit to 6-4. |
| BOT 4 |
The Mountain Lions countered again as Begora connected for his second 2-run homer of the day to stretch the lead back out to 8-4. |
| TOP 6 |
Andrew Jenner reached on a 2-out double and would come around to score on Hood's RBI single to make it 9-5. |
| TOP 9 |
Michael Dolberry II laced a ball off the right center field wall for a double, and came home on Joey Rezek's 2-run opposite field blast to make it 9-7. O'Connor would reach on a single before Dylan Beck retired the next two Braves hitters to close out the victory. |
| UNCP LEADERS |
YHC LEADERS |
|
|
Jeremy Begora 2-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI
Jack Enrico 1-3, 2 BB, 2B, RBI
Dylan Beck W, 9 IP, 12 H, 7 R, 7 ER, K |
| BACK THE BRAVES |
| Fans can help support the UNC Pembroke Baseball program by joining the Braves Club, or by making a gift directly to the program. To find out more information about the Braves Club, visit UNCPBraves.com/BravesClub or email braves.club@uncp.edu. To make a monetary gift, visit UNCPBraves.com/Give and indicate "baseball team" in notes section. |
