HARDEEVILLE — The dominant sound of the opening weekend of the University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team's season was the ping of aluminum bats making solid contact.

The Sand Sharks kept the bats ringing Sunday, pounding 31 hits while splitting a doubleheader with the visiting University of Northwestern Ohio at Richard Gray Sports Complex. USCB saw its rally fall short in a 12-10 loss in Sunday's first game but routed the Racers 14-4 in the finale to claim three of four in the series. 

USCB collected 58 hits and scored 52 runs in the series, compiling a .389 batting average and 10 extra-base hits. Senior outfielder Kyle Thompson accounted for 10 of those hits, going 10-for-20 with a pair of doubles and team highs for runs (9) and RBIs (8). 

Thompson went 4-for-6 with five RBIs in the 12-10 defeat, leading a five-inning fifth inning with a two-run double and driving in two more with a double in the ninth as USCB brought the winning run to the plate before John Schreiber closed the door. 

Senior Zack Holt powered the offense in the finale, going 3-for-4 with a three-run homer and a two-run single. Senior Johnny Cole was 2-for-2 with two walks and three RBIs, senior Ashly Morris went 4-for-5 with an RBI and scored three times and Thompson was 3-for-4 with an RBI and three runs. 

Sophomore Paxton Buckner pitched five strong innings for the win in his Sand Shark debut, striking out five and allowing three runs — two earned — on four hits and one walk. 

The Sand Sharks continue their season-opening homestand next weekend, hosting Truett-McConnell for a three-game series with a doubleheader at 11 a.m. Friday and a single game at noon Saturday. 

NOTES: USCB has scored 10 or more runs in all four games this season after doing so seven times all of last season. … Freshman RHP Ethan Wright struck out the side in a perfect seventh inning to finish Game 2 in his collegiate debut. … Cole drew seven walks over the weekend and is on pace to shatter R.J. Neal's single-season school record of 28 set in 2012.