DAYTONA BEACH, FLA. – Senior left-hander Michael Heesch scattered eight hits in a complete-game victory, and seniors R.J. Neal, Keifer Youmans and Weldon Smith each drove in a run to help the University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team defeat No. 4 Embry-Riddle in the first game of a key Sun Conference series Friday at Sliwa Stadium.
 
USCB solidified its hold on second place in the conference standings and pulled within three games of the league-leading Eagles, who had an eight-game conference winning streak snapped.
 
The Sand Sharks (26-12, 13-6 Sun Conference) staked Heesch to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the fourth, scoring on Neal's RBI double down the left-field line and Smith's RBI single up the middle.
 
The left-hander from Crystal Lake, Ill., made the lead stand up. He allowed a run in the bottom of the inning on Matt Skipper's RBI single before retiring seven straight.
 
The Eagles (31-10, 16-3) stranded a runner at third in the seventh and threatened again in the ninth, getting two on with one out before Heesch induced a game-ending double play to seal the victory.
 
Heesch struck out six and did not issue a walk, outdueling Embry-Riddle's Daniel Eaton, who gave up three runs (two earned) on six hits and four walks in a complete game.
 
Youmans had two hits, including an RBI infield single to score an insurance run in the ninth, and Dylan Nasiatka added two hits for USCB.
 
The Sand Sharks will send left-hander Adam Miller and junior right-hander Kyle McCullough to the mound to start when the series concludes with a doubleheader at noon Sunday.