HARDEEVILLE — The University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team started its key Sun Conference series against visiting St. Thomas in impressive fashion Friday, beating the Bobcats 14-0 in seven innings at Richard Gray Sports Complex.

Senior right-hander Junior Delatorre racked up a career-high 11 strikeouts in a five-hit shutout and the Sand Sharks (11-2, 3-1 TSC) provided plenty of support with eight runs in the fourth and six in the fifth. 

Senior first baseman Johnny Cole delivered the biggest blast of the day, a three-run homer to right to cap the scoring. Junior third baseman Michael Johnson and sophomore catcher Nick Payne each added two hits and two RBIs and Ashly Morris drove in a pair of runs for USCB. 

The Sand Sharks were hitless through three innings against Bobcats starter Marcos Barrios (0-1), but their bats came to life in the fourth. Zack Holt opened the scoring with an RBI single, Zack Saldivar followed with a run-scoring double and Payne added a two-run single to make it 4-0 before Barrios recorded an out in the inning. Morris added a two-run double to chase the starter and Johnson capped the eight-run outburst with a two-run single. 

USCB started the fifth with three straight singles, including an RBI hit from Josh Reinhart, and two more runs came in on Kyle Thompson's infield single and a throwing error before Cole smashed a 3-2 pitch to right for his first home run as a Sand Shark. 

Delatorre (3-0) got into trouble in the second before recording back-to-back strikeouts to strand two runners, and he duplicated the feat in the fourth to preserve his third career shutout. 

NOTES: Cole drew two walks and has a team-leading 18, 10 shy of R.J. Neal's school record. … Saldivar has hit safely in 12 of USCB's 13 games and is riding a team-best six-game hitting streak. … USCB has recorded double-digit hits in nine of its 13 games and has scored 10 or more runs six times.