AIKEN, S.C. – No. 23 (
Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II Top 30) Flagler College pounded out 17 hits en route to an 11-6 win over No. 29 University of South Carolina Aiken in a Peach Belt Conference baseball game Sunday afternoon at Roberto Hernandez Stadium.
Flagler, which salvaged a game in the series, improved to 22-14 overall and 10-5 in the Peach Belt. USC Aiken dropped to 24-10 overall and 9-6 in conference play.
Already leading 3-0 after three innings complete, Flagler scored six runs on seven hits to take control of the game.
Igor Baez had the big hit of the inning, a three-run home run, which gave the Saints a 9-0 lead.
The Saints added two more insurance runs in the top of the fifth.
The Pacers scored five runs in the home-half of the fifth. Four of those runs were unearned. Daulton Weeks belted a two-run home run and later, Nile Goings hit a two-run single.
Brian Parreira added a solo home run in the eighth.
Ryan Ashworth (2-3) earned the win in relief. He tossed three innings, scattered four hits, allowed one run, walked a batter and struck out five. Ashworth came on in relief in the fifth inning for starter
Cooper Wallace. He tossed 4 2/3 innings, allowed four hits, one earned run, walked three and fanned six.
Dante Pagano closed out the game.
Jake Hathaway paced the offensive onslaught by the Saints. He went 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles, scored two runs and had two runs batted in.
Ethan Crout, hitting in the lead-off spot for the first time this year, collected three singles, scored a run and drove in another.
Cole Ondrejka had a pair of hits, including a double, and he scored a run.
Ja'Kobi Dasher singled, doubled and scored two runs.
Bobby Bassler went 2-for-3 with a double, a run scored and one RBI.
Christian Aragon (3-1) took the loss after tossing 3 1/3 innings. He surrendered 11 hits and seven earned runs. Jamie Morlan, the fourth pitcher used by USC Aiken, tossed four scoreless innings, allowed two hits and struck out seven.
Weeks went 3-for-4 with the home run and two RBI. Jonathan Banks collected a pair of singles and drove in a run.
Flagler hosts Valdosta State University on Wednesday (April 5) at 4 p.m. at Drysdale Field on "Dr. William T. Abare, Jr. Day." The retiring Flagler College president will be honored before the game.