LAKE WALES, Fla. – Reigning Sun Conference Pitcher of the Week Michael Heesch picked up where he left off, tossing a six-hit shutout to lead the University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team to a 4-0 win over Warner (Fla.) in the opener of a three-game Sun Conference series Friday.
 
The No. 22 Sand Sharks (29-14, 15-7 Sun Conference)  broke in front on David O'Neil's RBI double to right-center in the third, and O'Neil reached on an error and scored on Conald Mansfield's RBI single through the left side in the sixth.
 
USCB tacked on two more in the ninth – one on an error and one on Weldon Smith's RBI single to right – but Heesch already had all the support he needed.
 
Heesch (7-1) struck out six and walked one while shutting down the Royals all afternoon to lower his ERA to 1.69.
 
He allowed at least one baserunner in eight of nine innings but allowed only one to advance past second base. Cleanup hitter Sergio Perez hit a two-out triple in the sixth but was stranded at third. The Royals (24-24, 10-11) stranded seven runners.
 
Mansfield and Dylan Nasiatka each had two hits for the Sand Sharks, who moved within two games of Sun Conference leader Embry-Riddle but remained a half-game behind second-place St. Thomas. The Bobcats beat the Eagles 4-3 in the opener of a three-game series Friday night.
 
USCB's series at Warner concludes with a doubleheader starting at noon Saturday.