FORT MYERS, Fla. – The USCB baseball team withstood a late rally to hang on for an 8-7 win in its first game at the Sun Conference Tournament on Friday at City of Palms Park. 

Brandon Joyce went 4-for-4 with four RBIs and John Gora pitched seven strong innings as the top-seeded Sand Sharks won their opening game in the tournament for only the second time – and the first since 2013. 

USCB was the only higher-seeded team to win Friday, as No. 5 seed Southeastern defeated No. 2 St. Thomas 11-6 and No. 4 seed Keiser beat No. 3 Webber International 15-4. The Sand Sharks will face Webber International at 3 p.m. Saturday. 

The Sand Sharks opened the scoring in the third on Joyce's RBI single to short and Nick Payne's sacrifice fly. After Tomas Rivera's RBI single cut it to 2-1 in the fourth, Joyce went back to work in the fifth, lacing a double down the right-field line to score Kal Davis.

Joyce came to the plate again in the sixth with the bases loaded and dumped a double down the left-field line, and a wild throw trying to cut him down at second cleared the bases to make it 7-2. 

The Royals pushed across two runs in the seventh before John Cloyd's RBI groundout in the bottom of the inning made it an 8-3 advantage.

Warner made things interesting in the ninth, as Rivera hit a two-run single to left and Taran Tipton followed with a two-run double to left-center before Blake Drew came on to record the final out for his ninth save of the season and the 17th of his career, adding to both of his school-record totals.

Gora (8-1) went seven innings, allowing three runs and 10 hits while striking out four.

If the Sand Sharks win Saturday, they will face the Southeastern-Keiser winner at 3 p.m. Sunday for a spot in the championship game. With a loss, USCB would face the Southeastern-Keiser loser at 11 a.m. Sunday.