THOMASVILLE, Ga. — Freshman J.J. Crespo went 3-for-5 in the leadoff spot and drove in the go-ahead run in the top of the ninth as the University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team earned a 6-3 victory in the opening game of a key Sun Conference series at Thomas on Friday. 

Crespo knocked a double into left-center with two outs in the ninth and Erik Armstrong added a two-run single later in the inning as the Sand Sharks (11-11, 4-6 TSC) rallied for their third consecutive win. 

Senior Kyle McCullough (3-1) earned the win in relief after coming on to work out of a jam in the eighth and shutting out the Nighthawks in the ninth. McCullough induced inning-ending double-play balls in both innings to seal it.

Starter Miles Galvin pitched well for USCB, limited the Nighthawks to three runs on eight hits over seven-plus innings before leaving in a tie game. 

USCB took a 3-0 lead with single runs in the third, fourth and fifth. Freshman Brandon Joyce started the scoring with and RBI single in the third, junior Jon Andrews doubled and scored on Mitchell Johnson's RBI groundout in the fourth, and Joyce scored on a wild pitch in the fifth. 

Thomas rallied with three in the fifth to tie it, and that's where it stayed until the Sand Sharks' dramatic two-out rally in the ninth. 

The series concludes with a doubleheader beginning at noon Saturday.