Sand Sharks split pair, take series at St. Thomas

The USC Beaufort baseball team picked up a big series victory Saturday in Miami, salvaging a doubleheader split to win two of three games in a key Sun Conference series at St. Thomas.

After the Bobcats rallied for a 5-4 win in nine innings in the opener, USCB came back to win the rubber game, 9-6, keeping the Sand Sharks tied for third in the conference standings.

T.J. Kemp (3 for 4, two RBIs), Gabe Torres (2 for 3, three runs, three RBIs) and DeShontay Berry (2 for 4, two RBIs) led the USCB offense in the second game.

The Sand Sharks took the lead with three runs in the sixth and added two more in the seventh to preserve the win for Andrew Barrineau, who pitched 3 1-3 innings of scoreless relief for his first win. He struck out two and did not allow a hit.

Ryan Kroko worked out of a jam in the seventh for his first save.

The Sand Sharks (20-8 overall, 6-5 in Sun Conference) got out to a 4-2 lead in the opener, but the Bobcats (15-16, 6-6) chipped away and tied it in the sixth, then scored in the bottom of the ninth to win it.

Andres Castro was charged with the loss. Clay Bonds and David O'Neil had two hits apiece for USCB.

USCB travels to Coker College for a doubleheader on Tuesday, then returns home for a three-game Sun Conference series against Southeastern beginning Friday.