UNCP baseball falls twice at NCAA Southeast Regional
May 20—TIGERVILLE, S.C. — The 25th-ranked UNC Pembroke baseball team used opportunistic hitting to forge a pair of comfortable leads in both contests, but 15th-ranked Lenoir-Rhyne and top-ranked North Greenville both played spoiler in delivering a pair of comeback victories to oust the Braves from the NCAA postseason on Thursday.
Lenoir-Rhyne (45-11) used five home runs to tack up 11 unanswered runs on the way to a 12-5 triumph over the Black & Gold in Thursday's opening game at Dillard Field in Tigerville, S.C. UNCP plated four runs in the first to take an early lead on the top-ranked Crusaders, but North Greenville plated six unanswered runs to tally a 6-4 win in Thursday's nightcap.
The setbacks officially snapped the lid on a highly successful season for the Braves (38-17) who matched the 2013 and 2015 clubs with the fourth-most overall victories in program history. It is the 15th time in the last 17 full seasons that the Black & Gold has reached the 30-win plateau. UNCP's 7-member Class of 2022 will exit Pembroke with 145 wins, three of the program's five NCAA Tournament appearances and the 2021 Peach Belt Conference regular season championship.
vs. Lenoir-Rhyne
Christian Jayne hammered a one-ball offering from all-region right-hander Josh Lanham deep and over the wall in right field to give the Braves a 5-2 lead in the sixth.
In the bottom half of the inning, David Bell (single) and Cole Laskowski (hit by pitch) both reached base safely to start the home half of the sixth, and Drew Yniesta knotted the game up four pitches later with a home run to left field. Nick Clarno followed with a solo homer to give the Bears a lead they would not relinquish.
Jayne was 3-for-5 and scored two runs for UNCP. Gage Hammonds had a two-run homer and Blake Hinson hit a solo shot for the Braves. Ethan Ott had two hits.
Wade Cuda hit two home runs with three RBIs for Lenoir-Rhyne and Yniesta had three hits with a double and a homer and four RBIs. Clarno had two hits and three RBIs including his homer and Bell had three hits including a homer.
Lanham (11-1) earned the win after the Bears came from behind, while Darren Bowen (1-3) took the loss for UNCP.
vs. North Greenville
The Braves used four hits and a costly error to plate four runs in the opening frame and steal the momentum quickly. Gage Hammonds, Bobby Dixon and Blake Hinson all registered RBI hits, while Ethan Ott joined the party as well with a sacrifice fly.
Ethan Stringer and Pat Monteith opened the bottom of the third inning with back-to-back singles, and Conference Carolinas Player of the Year Marek Chlup followed with a game-tying 3-run homer.
The first two Crusaders batters in the fourth inning went down rather quietly, but Monteith hit the first of his two home runs shortly after to give the hosts the lead for good.
Spencer Faulkner had two hits and a run for UNCP; Ethan Ott, Blake Hinson and Bobby Dixon each had one hit and an RBI.
Monteith finished with four hits and Chlup had three hits and four RBIs for the Crusaders. Ethan Stringer had a hit and two walks and scored twice and Jax Cash had two hits.
Thomas Skipper (2-1) earned the win for North Greenville and Brent Herlong got his first save of the season. Trent Harris (1-1) took the loss for UNCP.
