ST. AUGUSTINE – The old baseball axiom of "good pitching beats good hitting any time" was on display Friday afternoon at Drysdale Field. Flagler College's Mike O'Reilly and Michael Maiocco held the Peach Belt Conference's leading offensive team, No. 17 (Collegiate Baseball Division II Top 30) Columbus State University, to 173 points below its season batting average today with a .172 mark. Flagler took game one 5-0 and completed the sweep 10-3.

Flagler improved to 17-11 overall and 6-8 in the Peach Belt Conference. Columbus State fell to 22-9 overall and 9-5 in conference play. The last time the Cougars were shutout was Feb. 17, 2013 at the University of North Carolina Pembroke (1-0), a streak of 178 consecutive games.

O'Reilly (5-2) tossed his second consecutive complete game, this one a five-hit shutout. O'Reilly walked two and struck out six, but retired another 11 on fly outs and the other nine on ground outs. The Cougars only had two base runners reach scoring position.

O'Reilly got all of the offense he would need in the third inning. Dylan Jones led off the inning with a single to right and then scored on Kolin McMillen's double to left-center.

The Saints added two more in the sixth and two more in the seventh for insurance.

Jones went 3-for-3 with a double and he scored two runs. McMillen went 2-for-4 with the double, one run batted in and he scored a run. James Jean hit a two-run single in the seventh.

Caleb Kutsche (2-1) tossed 5.1 innings, allowed seven hits and three runs for Columbus State.

Ryan Ihle collected two singles. Jackson Oliver hit a double.

In the second game, Maiocco (5-1) tossed seven-plus innings, allowed six hits and two earned runs to go along with seven strikeouts. He only allowed three base runners in the first six innings.

The Saints did enough damage in the first inning. Igor Baez belted a three-run home run to left-center to key a four-run first.

Nick Oberg hit a three-run blast in the sixth inning to give Flagler a 7-0 lead. The Saints answered a two-run seventh by the Cougars with three runs of their own, all unearned. Jones was caught in a rundown between third base and home and the throw to the plate glanced off his helmet allowing him to score. Another two runs came in when Columbus State reliever Kolton Ingram booted a comebacker to the mound and then compounded the original error with a throwing error and two more runs crossed the plate.

Kyle Schackne closed the door pitching the last two innings of scoreless relief of Maiocco. He struck out three batters.

Jones had another big game going 3-for-4 with a double and he scored two runs. McMillen collected two singles and scored two runs while Baez went 2-for-4 with the home run, three RBI and he scored three runs.

Albert Harless (3-2) took the loss for the Cougars. He tossed six innings, allowed seven hits and six earned runs. Harless did record eight strikeouts.

Blake Edwards led Columbus State at the plate with a 2-for-4 performance. He hit one double and he drove in a run.

The same two teams meet at 1 p.m. tomorrow (March 26) to complete the three-game series at Drysdale Field.