No. 5 Pirates Sweep Two From No. 25 UNC Pembroke On Saturday

SAVANNAH, Ga. - The No. 5-ranked Armstrong Atlantic State University baseball squad ran its win streak to 13 with a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader sweep of UNC Pembroke on Saturday, winning game one, 6-5, and taking game two, 6-1, behind senior Chandler Hall's third consecutive complete-game victory.
The Pirates maintained hold of the top spot in the PBC East Division with the pair of wins, improving to 34-9 overall and 18-8 in the Peach Belt. UNC Pembroke fell to 29-17 overall and 14-14 in the league with the pair of losses.
Hall handcuffed the Braves in the game two win, giving up just five hits and one run in the nine-inning effort, striking out three. It was his third straight and fifth complete game of the season as the Augusta native improved to 7-2 on the season.
Armstrong pushed across a run in the bottom of the second on Clayton Miller's RBI fielder's choice. UNC Pembroke tied things up in the top of the sixth on a strange play as, with a runner on second and two out, the Pirates' Drew Walker fielded a ground ball and went to tag the runner Brad Bridgeman for the final out. Bridgeman avoided the tag and made it safely to third, putting runners on the corners. Aaron Parnell followed with an RBI single to tie the score at 1-1.
The Pirates took the lead for good in the bottom of the sixth with four runs on a bases-loaded walk to Miller, a two-RBI single by Richie Anderson off of pitcher Thomas Allen's glove into left center field, and a squeeze bunt RBI by Mike Barnhill. A Miller RBI single in the seventh tacked on the final run of the game for the Pirates.
Brad Isom (5-3) took the loss for the Braves in game two, giving up four hits and three runs in five-plus innings, walking one while striking out four.
The first game of the day had the Pirates holding on late for a 6-5 win over the Braves. UNC Pembroke struck first in the second inning on an RBI single by J.J. Williams and an RBI groundout by Bridgeman, but the Pirates tied things up with a single run in the second on a fielder's choice RBI by Miller and an Alex Frederick RBI single in the third.
Zach Taylor broke the 2-2 tie in the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run, his Peach Belt-leading 13th homer of the year, to put Armstrong up, 3-2.
UNC Pembroke tied things up in the sixth on Tyler Potter's RBI single, but Armstrong plated three in the bottom of the sixth on a Miller RBI double, a Cody Powell RBI single and a Mike Barnhill RBI single.
The Braves plated single runs in the seventh, on a Parnell sacrifice fly, and in the eighth, on a fielder's choice RBI by Williams. Freshman Chess Malone, however, worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save of the season, preserving the win for Ethan Bader.
Bader (10-3) notched his league-leading 10th win of the year, giving up 11 hits and five runs in eight innings of work, walking one while striking out eight. Alex Pearce (7-4) took the loss for the Braves, giving up 11 hits and six runs in eight innings of work, walking four while striking out five.
Miller drove in five runs on two hits for the Pirates in the doubleheader to lead Armstrong offensively. Roberts went 4-for-6 while Taylor had the solo home run and two stolen bases.
Potter's 4-for-4 game one paced the Braves, while Parnell went 3-for-7 with two RBIs in the pair of games.
The two teams wrap up their three-game PBC series with a single game at 1:00 p.m. on Sunday at Pirate Field.



