Baseball: USB Beaufort sweeps pair against Fisher

The USC Beaufort baseball team rolled to two lopsided victories Friday, beating visiting Fisher (Mass.) 9-1 and 11-0 at Richard Gray Sports Complex.

Senior pitchers John Gora and Jamie Strock put together strong outings, and Matt Kianka, Nick Payne and Brandon Joyce had big days at the plate to power the Sand Sharks, who improved to a program-best 22-3.

Gora (5-0) started the first game and racked up a season-high seven strikeouts while limiting the Falcons to one run and nine hits over eight innings, and Joe Schaffhauser worked a scoreless ninth.

The Sand Sharks scored single tallies in the first and second and broke it open in the third, when Kianka blasted his first homer to right-center and Joyce delivered a two-out, two-run single for a 6-1 lead.

Payne led off the fifth with his team-leading third homer of the season — a drive to dead center — and the Sand Sharks tacked on three in the seventh with two coming on Michael Johnson’s two-run double.

Joyce had two hits and two RBIs, Kianka and Payne added two hits and an RBI apiece, and Johnson drove in three runs.

Strock (6-1) also matched his season high with seven strikeouts in game two, allowing five hits and one walk over six scoreless frames. Eric Ezersky worked around a pair of walks in a scoreless seventh to complete the shutout.

USCB planted four runs in the second, the last two on Thomas Estopare’s two-run single to left, and added a run in the third and two in the fourth. Joyce drove a two-run double to left-center in the sixth, and Justin Kortessis added a two-run double down the left-field line one batter later to make it 11-0.

Joyce went 2-for-3 with two runs and three RBIs, and John Cloyd added two hits in the finale.

The four-game, nonconference series will conclude with a doubleheader at noon Saturday.

Wake Forest 6, Clemson 4

Wake Forest hit three home runs, including two two-run homers by Will Craig, to jump out to a 6-0 lead and held on to defeat No. 20 Clemson at David F. Couch Ballpark. The Demon Deacons, who took a 1-0 lead in the series, improved to 11-4 overall and 1-0 in the ACC. The Tigers fell to 9-3 overall and 0-1 in ACC play.

Wake Forest scored three runs in the first inning, capped by Craig’s first long ball of the game. Gavin Sheets led off the second inning with a homer before Craig’s second home run of the game and seventh of the season in the third inning.

The Tigers chipped away with a two-run homer by Seth Beer, his fourth long ball of the year — which upped his hitting streak to 10 games — in the fourth inning and Chase Pinder’s solo long ball, his team-leading fifth of the year, in the seventh inning.

Demon Deacon starter Parker Dunshee (3-1) earned the win by allowing eight hits, four runs and no walks with eight strikeouts in seven innings pitched. Craig pitched the final two innings to record his third save of the season. Tiger starter Charlie Barnes (1-2) took the loss, as he gave up six hits, six runs and two walks with a career-high nine strikeouts in a career-long 6  1/3 innings pitched.

The series will continue at 4 p.m. Saturday.

LATE THURSDAY SOFTBALL USC Beaufort 6-0, Cumberland (Tenn.) 3-6

The USCB softball team returned to its home field for the first time in nearly a month and split a doubleheader with Cumberland (Tenn.).

Senior right-hander Ashlie Layman (8-4) carried a no-hitter through five innings in the first game and earned the win for USCB, allowing three runs — one earned — and two hits in a complete game. She struck out four and walked two.

A pair of Sand Shark errors led to two unearned runs for the Phoenix in the first inning, but USCB answered with three runs in the second on Missy Hughes’ run-scoring infield single and Kayla Boyle’s two-run double to claim a 3-2 lead. The Sand Sharks tacked on three unearned runs in the fourth.

Boyle had three RBIs, and Marissa Becker, Brodie McGregor and Whitley Martin each had two hits for the Sand Sharks.

USCB couldn’t take advantage of its scoring opportunities in the finale, leaving 10 runners on base. Haley Brown and McGregor each had two hits.

Naomi Catt took the loss, allowing three runs and five hits over 2  2/3 innings.

The Sand Sharks will travel to Brewton-Parker (Ga.) for a nonconference doubleheader at 1 p.m. Wednesday before opening Sun Conference play at home against Keiser on March 19.

This story was originally published March 11, 2016 at 7:45 PM with the headline "Baseball: USB Beaufort sweeps pair against Fisher."