Braves split PBC series with AASU

PEMBROKE – After snapping Armstrong Atlantic State’s 18-game winning streak in the opening contest with a 5-4 victory, The University of North Carolina at Pembroke had a chance to sweep a conference doubleheader Saturday at Sammy Cox Field for the first time all season.

Clinging to a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning with the bases loaded and one out in the nightcap, Braves’ head coach Paul O’Neil met with starting pitcher Brian Willis before a crucial at-bat against Peach Belt slugger, Alex Wyche.

“I just tried to giving Brian a few words of encouragement,” O’Neil said. “Obviously, the guy (Wyche) got a pitch he could drive and didn’t miss.”

The meeting on the mound backfired as Wyche crushed the second pitch he saw over the right field wall for a grand slam, supplying his team with a 5-3 cushion. The Pirates would go on to score a total of eight runs on nine hits in the inning, including a two-run homer from Drew Walker, before winning the second game 8-5.

Wyche is hitting .440 for the Pirates with 40 RBIs.

UNCP (22-12, 4-9 PBC) fell to 0-5 in the second game of Peach Belt doubleheaders with the defeat. The Braves left a total of 22 runners on the basepaths in both games.

“I don’t what is about the second game when we play two,” Braves’ coach Paul O’Neil said. “We allowed a big inning and that hurt us. We made too many mistakes that never seem to show up in the boxscore.”

Despite the setback, the Braves’ tallied 10 hits for the third straight game. Kevin Dietrich had two hits and three RBIs, while belting his seventh homerun of the season with a two-run shot in the second.

Josh Bagley pitched well in relief for UNCP, allowing just two runs in four and 2/3 innings.

Playing in just their second road series of the season after 29 home games, the Pirates (25-9, 5-6 PBC) got a strong pitching performance in game two from Cody Walden. Walden (7-1, 3.47 ERA) gave up five runs in eight innings while striking out eight. He threw 146 total pitches.

“Swinging at bad pitches killed us again,” O’Neil added. “We chose too many balls and too many pitches out of the strikezone.”

The Braves and Pirates combined for eight homeruns on Saturday in a wind-propelled day of deep fly balls. With gusts hitting 25 mph left-to-right, high flies to right field seemed to carry each time toward the warning track.

Jonathan Rivera (3-1, 2.41 ERA) will take the mound for the Braves in today’s third and decisive game at 2 p.m. as UNCP tries to avoid losing its five consecutive Peach Belt Conference series.