HARDEEVILLE -- USCB baseball fell to Middle Georgia 12-4 in a midweek matchup Tuesday afternoon at the Richard Gray Sports Complex. The Sand Sharks were outhit 19-6, and three defensive errors added to their struggles in the loss.
Devin Marlow (1-1) took the loss after giving up six runs, all earned, in two innings of work. He was relieved by Cole Thomas who worked 3.2 innings of one-run ball, striking out four batters along the way.Â
The Knights jumped out to an early lead, plating three runs in the first inning. Michael Flaherty tripled down the left field line to drive in two, and Teonis Pimentel followed with an RBI single to left. USCB responded in the bottom half, scoring its first run on Jeremy Brown's sacrifice fly.
Middle Georgia continued to attack the left side in the second, tacking on three more runs. Zane Faulk delivered an RBI single, and Pimentel added a two-run base hit for his second of four hits on the day.
USCB chipped away in the third. Carson Weather lifted a sacrifice fly, and Jaques Walker punched an RBI single up the middle—his first collegiate hit and run batted in—to cut the deficit to 6-3. The Sand Sharks wouldn't score again until the ninth, when Nikko Andre drew a bases-loaded walk to bring in their fourth run.
The Knights padded their lead with insurance runs in the fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth innings, stretching their advantage to as many as nine before Andre's late RBI.
USCB returns to action this weekend, hosting Claflin for a three-game series beginning Saturday with a doubleheader at 1 p.m. The last time the Panthers visited the Lowcountry, Cam Dimidjian made history, throwing the program's first-ever perfect game.
