Box Score
HARDEEVILLE, S.C. – For the second day in a row, the University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team managed only two runs – but this time it wasn't enough.
A day after spoiling Brewton-Parker's home opener with a shutout victory in Mount Vernon, Ga., the Sand Sharks saw the Barons return the favor with a 4-2 victory Saturday at Richard Gray Sports Complex, as right-hander Joel McLaughlin shut down USCB for six innings and the Sand Sharks were unable to take advantage of ample scoring opportunities against the Barons' bullpen.
After being shut out on four hits a night earlier, the Barons broke through early on Fernando Frias' sacrifice fly in the first inning, and they added three more in the third against USCB starter
Adam Miller (0-1). The big blow in the three-run inning was Joseph Taylor's two-run single with two outs.
The Sand Sharks' bullpen held the Barons in check from there, with
Alex Graham working three scoreless innings and
Miles Galvin pitching a perfect ninth with two strikeouts. USCB relievers have not allowed a hit or a run in nine innings of work through two games.
But the Sand Sharks (1-1) couldn't generate enough offense to spark a rally. They chipped away with a run in the sixth on
Erik Armstrong's RBI groundout – their only run in six innings against McLaughlin (1-0) – and added another on
Keifer Youmans' sacrifice fly in the seventh. But they left runners at second and third when center fielder DeMontez Jones snared
Ty Main's line drive to end the seventh.
Another potential big inning went by the wayside when Armstrong was called out on a close play at the plate trying to score on a
Gabe Torres single. Coach
Bryan Lewallyn argued with the home plate umpire, but the call stood, and the inning and the rally were over.
Armstrong had a big day at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI, but no other USCB player had multiple hits. The Sand Sharks did outhit the Barons 8-5 and had all of the game's four extra-base hits, but they left eight men on base, including six in scoring position.
USCB is back in action at 2 p.m. Wednesday, beginning a four-day, four-game series against Mid-Continent (Ky.).
