HARDEEVILLE, S.C. - Blake Cilwick delivered a pinch-hit RBI single in the ninth inning to score the go-ahead run, and the University of South Carolina Beaufort staved off elimination for the fourth time in two days with a  5-4 win over St. Thomas (Fla.) in the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round at Richard Gray Sports Complex.

The Sand Sharks and Bobcats have split two meetings in the tournament and will play again at 1 p.m. Monday with the winner advancing to the Avista-NAIA World Series in Lewiston, Idaho, from May 25-June 1.

After rallying from a 5-0 deficit in their first game of the day against Union (Tenn.), the Sand Sharks found themselves in a 3-0 hole against St. Thomas.

Antonio Sepulveda opened the scoring with a solo home run to left in the third, and Victor Madrazo added an RBI single later in the inning. Giovanni Zayas added an RBI double in the fifth to make it 3-0.

The Sand Sharks (39-17) rallied in the sixth, scoring four runs to take the lead. 

David O'Neil and R.J. Neal beat out infield hits with one out, and O'Neil stole third and scored when the throw went into left field. Dylan Nasiatka followed with an RBI double to cut the lead to 3-2, then Ty Main blasted his team-leading fifth home run to left to give USCB its first lead.

The Bobcats (45-13) tied it on Ricky Claudio's sacrifice fly in the seventh, but the Sand Sharks mustered some ninth-inning magic for the second consecutive game.

Gabe Torres, whose two-run single drove in the winning run against Union, singled to lead off the inning and moved to second on Brandon Collins' sacrifice bunt. Dom Hayes singled to right to put runners at the corners, and Cilwick hit a chopper past Madrazo at third to score the winning run.

Colton Rudd breezed through a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the win. Rudd (2-2) allowed two runs (one earned) on one hits over five innings of relief for the win - a night after getting a two-inning save against top-seeded Faulkner (Ala.).