Hardeeville, SC-- The USCB baseball team took a while to wake up the bats in the opening game, but strong pitching kept the Sand Sharks in it until the end. Senior Zac Burke pitched five scoreless innings before the Buffaloes found their groove offensively when senior outfielder Chris Patterson went deep in the top of the sixth with a two-run shot and a lead the Buffaloes would not surrender.

Milligan would add an insurance run in the top of the seventh, which also proved to be an inning where the Sand Shark offense woke up. In the bottom of the last frame USCB was able to put men into scoring position before senior Alex Murphy was able to put down an RBI single to bring in pinch-hitter freshman Hunter Helms. The late-game rally seemed to fire up the otherwise stagnant Sand Shark offense, which then carried the momentum into the second game of the night.

Behind the strong pitching of junior Nick Constan, the Sand Sharks were able to plate 7 of their 9 hits through the methodical small ball approach where the team seemed to have a bead on Milligan's junior pitcher Jeff Mefford.

In the game the Sand Sharks went 9 for 28 at the plate, led by juniors Kelvin Brito and Keith Olmo, who both went 2-3 and Cole Hamilton came across the plate twice.

The Sand Sharks will again see Milligan College at noon today for the final game of the series.

Live stats and video will be available.