Box Score

AVE MARIA, Fla. — The University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team turned a pitchers' duel into a rout with a six-run seventh inning and remained undefeated in Sun Conference play with a 10-1 road win over Ave Maria on Friday.

Senior left-hander Michael Heesch (4-0) turned in another impressive performance for the win, striking out 10 over seven innings. He didn't allow a run until the seventh and surrendered only the one run on seven hits. 

Ave Maria starter Ethan Striz matched him for much of the way, holding the Sand Sharks (16-3, 4-0 Sun Conference) without a hit until Gabe Torres singled with two outs in the fifth. 

USCB finally scratched one across in the sixth, when David O'Neil's single to right scored R.J. Neal for a 1-0 lead. 

And hits came in bunches in the seventh, as Torres started a two-out rally with a double — the first of six hits in the inning. Neal and Weldon Smith drove in runs to increase the cushion, and O'Neil and Erik Armstrong broke it open with two-run singles.

The Sand Sharks tacked on a run in the eighth, when Neal tripled and scored on Keifer Youmans' sacrifice fly, and they scored two more in the ninth.

Neal went 3-for-5 with an RBI and scored three runs to lead the offense. O'Neil added two hits and two RBIs, Torres had two hits, and Armstrong and Smith each drove in two runs.

Alex Sanchez went 2-for-5 with an RBI for the Gyrenes (8-12, 5-5).

USCB used only one reliever — freshman Junior Delatorre threw two scoreless innings to close out the win — leaving a fully-stocked bullpen for Saturday's doubleheader.

Senior left-hander Adam Miller will start the first game, and junior right-hander Kyle McCullough will get the nod in the second game.