GASTONIA — The fourth-seeded UNC Pembroke baseball jumped out to an early 8-0 lead, and then rode another strong Jonathon Jacobs start to a 9-3 win Friday evening over eighth-seeded Erskine to move into the semifinals of the Conference Carolinas Tournament.
Jacobs turned in seven-plus innings, allowing just four hits and two earned runs, while striking out seven Erskine hitters to move to 8-1 on the year.
Andrew Jenner paced the offense with a 4-for-4 night, finishing a triple shy of the cycle.
The Black & Gold hit the 40-win mark for the third time in program history, all under current skipper Paul O’Neil.
The Braves (40-12) improved to 11-4 all-time against the Flying Fleet (28-25), including six straight victories in the series.
The Braves will be back in action Saturday, May 4, as they square off against the winner of Belmont Abbey and Mount Olive with a trip to the championship game on the line. First pitch is set for 4 p.m. at CaroMont Health Park.
The Braves came roaring out of the gate, as Blake Hinson took the first pitch of the game over the left-center field wall for a ground-rule double, while Michael Dolberry II followed with his 13th home run of the season to give UNCP a quick 2-0 lead.
An inning later, Andrew Jenner singled to lead off the frame and moved to second base on a Jake Bradley hit by pitch. Chase Hudson’s sac bunt advanced them 90 feet, with Joey Rezek cashing in a two-out, two-RBI double to make it 4-0.
The bats stayed hot in the third as Kody O’Connor led off with a double, advanced to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a balk. Will Hood laced a single down the first-base line and jogged home on a Andrew Jenner no-doubt blast to right to stretch the lead to 7-0. Bradley got things going again with a single, and would eventually score on Hinson’s RBI single to make it 8-0.
Jenner’s four-hit night included two RBIs, and he also stole a base. Dolberry had two RBIs and Hinson had two hits and one RBI.
Daniel Hernandez had two hits including a home run and one RBI for Erskine and David Hernandez had two hits including a double. Blake Holshouser (1-5) was the losing pitcher.
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