HARDEEVILLE, SOUTH CAROLINA — The University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team faced Augusta on Friday evening to open a three-game series. USCB jumped on the board first, but Augusta scored in three straight innings before closing out a 12–5 win.

The Sand Sharks were led by Terry Dean with two hits in the game, while Noah Campbell drove in a team-high two runs and added a run and a hit. Andrew Walters, Luke Doty, and Tyler Gundelfinger each recorded an RBI.

The Sand Sharks jumped on the board first. After a perfect 1-2-3 inning, USCB responded with an RBI groundout by Campbell to take a 1–0 lead as Raeder McIntire crossed the plate.

Augusta recorded a hit and moved a runner into scoring position at third, but the Sand Sharks held Augusta scoreless to maintain a 1–0 lead into the third inning. The visitors then pushed across three runs on two hits, starting with a single back up the middle and a walk before a pickoff attempt error allowed a runner to score. Two batters later, an RBI double to right field gave Augusta a 2–1 lead, followed by a wild pitch as the Sand Sharks fell behind 3–1.

Looking to answer, USCB led off the inning with a double, but Augusta worked out of the jam to keep the score at 3–1. In the top of the fourth inning, Augusta extended its lead. After back-to-back strikeouts, a two-out triple kept the inning alive before an RBI single and two more singles pushed the score to 5–1.

In the bottom of the fourth, the Sand Sharks got one back after a walk and a single set up an RBI single by Gundelfinger that scored Doty to cut the deficit to 5–2.

Augusta added to its lead in the fifth inning after a one-out walk came around to score on a double to right field, followed by back-to-back RBI singles as the Sand Sharks trailed 8–2.

USCB answered in the bottom half of the inning, cutting the deficit in half. Two walks set up an RBI single by Campbell, and McIntire later came around to score on an error. Walters followed with an RBI sacrifice fly to trim the deficit to 8–4. Doty then singled home a run, scoring Campbell on the play to make it 8–5.

The game remained 8–5 into the bottom of the seventh inning when the Sand Sharks, looking to tie the game, loaded the bases with one out. However, back-to-back strikeouts kept the advantage with Augusta.

Augusta added on in the top of the eighth after a one-out walk was followed by a two-run home run. The visitors added two more runs in the ninth before closing out the game with a perfect bottom of the ninth to seal the 12–5 win over the Sand Sharks.

USCB returns home Saturday against Augusta for Game Two of the three-game series, with first pitch scheduled for noon.