HARDEEVILLE – The USCB baseball team rolled to a 12-3 victory in the opener of a doubleheader Saturday and rallied for three runs in the ninth inning to pull out a 4-3 win in the nightcap and finish a three-game sweep of Sun Conference rival Thomas at Richard Gray Sports Complex.
Jamie Strock (3-0) pitched eight strong innings in the first game, allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits with a strikeout and two walks. Thomas Estopare (3-for-5, 3 RBIs), Brandon Joyce (2-for-4, 4 RBIs) and Josh Reinhart (3-for-5, RBI) powered the offense. All 10 players who recorded an at-bat for the Sand Sharks had at least one hit as USCB racked up 15 hits.
The Sand Sharks (7-1, 3-0 TSC) generated most of their offense late in the finale, plating three in the ninth with Matt Kianka scoring the winning run on a wild pitch. John Cloyd (3-for-4), Kianka (2-for-5) and Joyce (2-for-4) had multiple hits for USCB. Forrest Kirsch (2-0) was credited with the win, allowing two unearned runs on two hits and two walks over 3 2/3 innings of relief.
The Sand Sharks (7-1, 3-0 TSC) staked Strock to an early lead, scoring four in the first on RBI singles from Estopare and Michael Johnson and a two-run base hit from Joyce. After the Night Hawks (3-6, 0-3) cut the deficit in half with two runs in the second, USCB plated two more on Estopare's RBI infield single and Kal Davis' sacrifice fly to make it 6-2 after two.
Thomas answered with a run in the third, but Estopare and Davis teamed up again in the fourth with Estopare hitting an RBI double to left and scoring on Davis' single to right for an 8-3 advantage. John Cloyd's sacrifice fly made it 9-3 in the seventh, and USCB tacked on three more in the eighth on Reinhart's RBI double and another two-run single from Joyce.
The finale shaped up to be a pitchers' duel between USCB's Julio De Pena and Thomas' Neal Hunter. Hunter kept the Sand Sharks off-balance by mixing speeds, but they pushed across a run in the second when Cloyd swiped second and Joyce scored from third when the throw sailed into center field.
De Pena ran into trouble in the sixth when his throwing error on a sacrifice bunt allowed the tying run to score, but Kirsch came on to get out of the jam and keep it tied at 1. Kirsch's error in the seventh kept the inning alive for Tanner Long's two-run single, giving the Night Hawks their first lead of the day.
Hunter finally ran out of steam in the ninth, giving up a leadoff double to Joyce and a sharp single to center to Cloyd. Kianka then hit a grounder to second baseman Dillon True, who tried to cut down the lead runner but couldn't get the speedy Cloyd.
After Kianka and Cloyd's double-steal put the winning run in scoring position, the Night Hawks intentionally walked Estopare to load the bases, and Davis drew a walk to force home the tying run. Josh Roye then spiked the first pitch to Nick Payne, allowing Kianka to sprint home with the winning run.
The Sand Sharks will put their six-game winning streak on the line Tuesday, hosting Trinity Baptist for a non-conference doubleheader starting at noon.
