COLUMBIA, S.C. – The USCB baseball team used four home runs to outslug NCAA Division II Benedict on Wednesday, scoring five runs in the ninth inning and holding on for a 12-9 victory.

Charlie McGinnis hit a pair of home runs, and Bobby Wenthe and Nick Graham also went deep as the Sand Sharks collected seven extra-base hits among their 12 hits. 

McGinnis' three-run shot capped a five-run first inning, but the Tigers chipped away with single runs in each of the first three innings before McGinnis' second blast made it 6-3 in the fourth. 

Benedict's Reinaldo Santiago went deep in the fourth, but Wenthe hit his team-leading sixth home run – a solo shot – in the fifth to make it 7-4. 

The Tigers plated a run in the fifth and two in the seventh to pull even before USCB erupted for its second five-run frame of the day in the ninth. Thomas Estopare broke the tie with an RBI double and scored on Wenthe's single, and Graham's three-run blast capped the big inning.

Benedict put together a two-out rally to score two runs in the ninth against freshman Javell Passley, but Michael Biasello came on to retire the next batter for his fourth save, preserving Passley's first collegiate win.

Bojangles' Player of the Game: Charlie McGinnis (2-for-4, 2 HR, 4 RBIs)

FIN FACTS

USCB's four home runs match the school record accomplished four times, most recently at Southeastern on April 16, 2016. … McGinnis is the 10th player in program history to hit two home runs in a game and the second this season (Wenthe). … The Sand Sharks improved to 6-0 all-time against Benedict.

UP NEXT

USCB returns home for a four-game series against Fisher (Mass.) on Friday and Saturday with doubleheaders starting at noon both days.