St. Augustine – In a top-25 match-up, No. 16 (Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II Top 30) Flagler College came out victorious against No. 6 UNC Pembroke with two wins Saturday afternoon at Drysdale Field. The Saints won game one, 7-5, and used an impressive 20 hits to win game two, 18-5.
Flagler improved to 16-2 overall and 9-1 in the Peach Belt Conference, while UNCP is now 14-4 overall and 4-4 in conference play.
The Saints jumped ahead of the Braves early in game two, scoring four runs in the first inning.
Kolin McMillen led off the bottom of the opening inning with a double and
Nick Oberg followed with a triple into right center.
Andrew Brodbeck reached on an error and scored on a double from
Todd Juliano, while
Frankie Sagarese singled into the left to score Juliano.
The Braves were able to push one run across in the top of the second, but Flagler came out swinging again in the bottom half of the inning. McMillen drew a lead-off walk, Oberg singled and Brodbeck drew another walk to load the bases for
Skylar Fox who sent the fourth pitch of his at bat flying over the left field fence for a grand slam.
Flagler scored two more runs in both the third and fourth inning, collecting six more hits along the way. UNCP was the only team to score in the fifth inning as Collins Cuthrell knocked a three-run homer over the left field line.
In the bottom of the sixth the Saints batted through the lineup, scoring six more runs on seven hits. Sagarese led off with a walk and Flagler quickly loaded the bases for McMillen who doubled to right, scoring two runs. The hits kept coming for the home team, as Oberg, Brodbeck, Fox and Sagarese all singled during the inning.
Drew Cole homered for the Braves in the top of the seventh, but that was the last run scored for either team in game two.
Saints' starter
Mike O'Reilly (4-1) threw for eight innings of work, giving up eight hits, but earning eight strikeouts.
Andrew Castello came into close for the Saints and shut down the final two Braves hitters of the game. UNCP went through six pitchers, with the starter, Garrett Hickman (2-2) earning the loss.
Flagler had six different players finish the game with multiple hits, including a 4-4 outing from McMillen.
The first game was another complete game performance from Flagler starter
Danny Brown (4-1). Brown fanned 10 batters, throwing 138 pitches. Logan Cook (2-1) got the start for the Braves, earning his first loss of the season. Coming in for relief in the second inning for UNCP was Jordan DeLoatch, who struck out seven Saints and gave up four hits along the way.
Cuthrell hit a solo home run on his first pitch of the day, giving UNCP an early 1-0 lead, but the Saints evened the score in the following inning as Juliano, who reached on a double, scored on a sacrifice fly from Fox.
UNCP added two more runs in the top of the third with the help of three Flagler errors. The Saints more than made up for it in the bottom of the inning, taking the lead, 6-3, after scoring five runs on five hits.
Brown struck out the side in the top of the fourth, and Flagler pushed across another run on a double from Juliano.
The Braves threatened in the seventh on a two-out rally as Cole reached after being hit by a pitch, followed by a single from Zade Denton. A single from Cuthrell would score Cole, while Dalton Knight singled to score Denton, but the Saints were able to get out of the inning and close out the game behind the strong arm of Brown.
Juliano led the way offensively for the Saints in game one, going 4-4 with 2 RBI. The UNCP bats were led by Cuthrell who had four hits and 3 RBI in the game.
The same two teams meet tomorrow (March 8) for the final game of the series at 1 p.m.
