Huntingdon baseball picks up first USA South victory

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. – The Huntingdon baseball team earned its first USA South Athletic Conference victory with an 8-4 win over North Carolina Wesleyan on Saturday.

The win was the fourth straight for the Hawks (5-3, 1-0 USA South).

Freshman Will Pharis and sophomore Cheston Wesson drove in five of the Hawks' eight runs. Pharis was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and Wesson was 2-for-5 with two RBIs and a run.

Gavin Free and Landon Sessions also had two hits. Free, Trammell DeJarnett and Tyler Blackwell each scored twice and Gunnar Peters drove in one run, scored once and had two stolen bases.

A Pharis single in the first inning scored Blackwell for the first run of the game. In the fourth inning, Free scored on a Wesson single and Wesson scored when Peters drew a bases-loaded walk. The Hawks made it 5-0 in the fifth when Blackwell scored on a sacrifice fly by Pharis and Wesson singled to score Free.

DeJarnett scored on a Pharis single in the sixth to make it a 6-1 game. But N.C. Wesleyan (2-5, 0-1) cut into the Hawks' lead with three runs in the bottom of the seventh.

Leading 6-4 in the top of the ninth, Peters and DeJarnett both scored on wild pitches to give the Hawks a four-run lead.

Starter Joseph Fincher (2-0) picked up the win in 6 2/3 innings. Relievers Tate Fowler and Neil Lawler held the Battling Bishops scoreless in the final 2 1/3 innings.

Huntingdon and N.C. Wesleyan will play again at 1 p.m. on Sunday.