HATTIESBURG, Miss. — The University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team continued its impressive postseason run Thursday with a 5-2 victory over No. 4 seed Central Methodist (Mo.) in the first game of the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Hattiesburg Bracket. 

USCB (27-23) advances to face top-seeded Northwood (Texas) at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday night. 

Erik Armstrong went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and Ryan Walker and Ashly Morris each drove in a run for the Sand Sharks, who handed Eagles ace Drew Greiwe his first loss. Greiwe (9-1) was charged with four runs on six hits over six innings. 

USCB starter Miles Galvin pitched well, allowing two runs on three hits over 5 2/3 innings, but he left with the Sand Sharks trailing 2-1 after a bases-loaded walk with two outs in the sixth. Andrew Barrineau (6-1) got out of the jam and retired all seven batters he faced to earn the win, and Kyle McCullough pitched around a leadoff single in the ninth for his fourth save. 

The Sand Sharks took an early lead in the first, as JJ Crespo led off the inning with a double to right-center and scored on Armstrong's one-out single. The Eagles (25-12) tied it in the fourth, when Neal DeMartin beat out an infield single to score Shane Lowe.

Central Methodist took the lead on Kyle Poynter's bases-loaded walk in the sixth, but the Sand Sharks answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning. 

Walker's RBI single scored Blake Cilwick with the tying run, and Armstrong scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Morris came through with a two-out RBI single to make it 4-2, and Armstrong delivered another RBI single in the seventh to push the lead to 5-2. 

The Sand Sharks improve to 7-3 all-time in the NAIA Opening Round.