GASTONIA — The fourth-seeded UNC Pembroke baseball team held off a late rally from seventh-seeded Belmont Abbey to take a 5-4 win and secure its spot in the Conference Carolinas Tournament championship game during tournament action Sunday at CaroMont Health Park.
The Braves led 5-3 when Chase Jernigan entered a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the eighth and allowed just one Crusader run to keep the Braves in the lead, and then slammed the door in the ninth inning to pick up his ninth save of the campaign. He allowed one hit and struck out two.
Kody O’Connor led the way offensively with a 3-for-4 day, and put the Braves on the board first with an RBI single in the first. He scored twice and stole two bases.
The Black & Gold advanced to the Conference Carolinas Tournament championship for the first time since joining the league, and will play in its first conference championship game since the 2017 Peach Belt Conference tournament championship, and will be looking for its first conference tourney title since 2011.
The Braves (41-12) improved to 21-19 in the all-time series with the Crusaders (27-24), and have now taken 13 of the last 15 in the series.
The Braves will be back in action Monday, May 6, and will once again face Belmont Abbey. The Crusaders must defeat the Braves twice to become tournament champions, while the Braves need one victory to win the tournament. The first game will begin at 10 a.m., with the second game to follow if necessary.
UNCP’s Blake Hinson got things started in the first with a leadoff single and moved to second on a stolen base. Kody O’Connor gave the Braves an early lead with an RBI single, and moved up 90 feet on a Spencer Faulkner walk. Will Hood followed with an opposite field RBI single to make it 2-0.
Belmont Abbey’s Connor Powell worked a third-inning two-out walk while Todd Velotta was hit by a pitch. Connor Tucker followed with a two-run double to tie the game at 2-2.
In the bottom half, the Braves answered right back, with Joey Rezek reaching via a single and moving to third on O’Connor’s single. Faulkner scored Rezek with an RBI groundout to put the Braves back in front 3-2.
Belmont Abbey knotted the game once again in the fourth on a Carter DuHaime solo homer.
The Braves capitalized on a run-scoring error by Belmont Abbey a half-inning later to regain the lead at 4-3.
O’Connor reached on a fifth-inning leadoff single and stole second, before Andrew Jenner got aboard on another Crusader error to put runners on the corners. The Braves executed a perfect first and third double steal to stretch the lead to 5-3.
Connor Tucker and Garrett Browder were each hit by pitch in the Crusaders’ eighth before Caleb Burr singled to load the bases with no outs. Jernigan came in and got a strikeout and two fly outs to limit the Crusaders to just the single run.
Will Harris (6-0) earned the win for UNCP, pitching five innings with two hits and three runs allowed and four strikeouts. Belmont Abbey’s Drew Stegura (6-4) took the loss.
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