Orangeburg, South Carolina - The University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team opened a three-game series against conference opponent Claflin on Friday evening. The Sand Sharks took the opener with a 12–6 victory after jumping out to a 10–1 lead, highlighted by a seven-run fifth inning.
The Sand Sharks improved to 9–25 overall with a 3–19 conference record.
USCB was led offensively by Tyler Gundelfinger, who recorded two hits, scored two runs, and drove in two RBIs. Luke Doty and Kris Levensteins also contributed two RBIs each in the win, while Nicholas Barcelo added a two-hit performance.
Joe Turner pitched six innings to earn his second win of the season, striking out three batters.
The Sand Sharks struck first in the opening inning after a leadoff double by Noah Campbell. He later scored on a Gundelfinger RBI groundout to give USCB an early 1–0 lead.
Claflin answered in the bottom of the first, using a one-out triple followed by a groundout to tie the game at 1–1.
After a scoreless second inning, USCB regained the lead in the third. Gundelfinger started the rally with a two-out double, and Jon Davis followed with an RBI single up the middle to score him. Davis later came around to score on a Panthers error, giving the Sand Sharks a 3–1 advantage.
The score remained 3–1 until the top of the fifth, when USCB broke the game open. With runners on second and third following a pair of stolen bases, Gundelfinger delivered a two-RBI single to make it 5–1. Levensteins followed with an RBI double to center field.
Continuing the big inning, Cooper McDaniel drew an RBI walk to extend the lead to 8–1. Doty capped off the scoring with a two-RBI double, plating Campbell and Dean to complete the seven-run inning and give USCB a 10–1 lead.
Claflin responded with two runs in the fifth, beginning with a solo home run to left field. Later in the inning, a triple followed by a sacrifice fly brought in another run, cutting the deficit to 10–3.
The Panthers added another run in the sixth after a leadoff double came around to score on an RBI single, making it 10–4.
Both teams added two runs in the eighth inning. For USCB, Davis reached on a walk and later scored on a two-out Claflin error to make it 11–4. Tanner Wagnon followed with an RBI single to extend the lead to 12–4.
Claflin answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the eighth after a hit-by-pitch was followed by a two-run home run to left field, narrowing the gap to 12–6.
In the ninth, Claflin put a runner on with a double, but a caught stealing and a fielder's choice ended the game, securing the victory for the Sand Sharks.
USCB will look to clinch the series on Saturday afternoon, closing it out with a doubleheader against the Panthers beginning at 1:00 p.m.
