GREENWOOD – UNC Pembroke’s Keith Whitman hit a grand slam homer, helping the Braves complete a Peach Belt Conference sweep Saturday afternoon with an 11-5 victory over the Lander Bearcats in a game that was moved to Emerald High School due to storm damage at Legion Field.
Pembroke, which swept a double-header against Lander Friday on a pair of shutouts at Legion Field, improved to 31-13 overall and 10-10 in the PBC. The Bearcats fell to 24-17, 8-11.
Wind caused the left-field fence to cave in Friday night at Legion Field. So officials moved Saturday's series finale to nearby EHS.
Lander scored its first runs of the series in the opening inning, taking a 2-0 lead. Brian Bender reached on an infield single, moved to second on Jeff Caskey’s sacrifice bunt, and scored on Josh Lovvorn’s bloop double to left. Nate Mangiapane added an RBI single.
The Bearcats doubled their lead in the second when Caskey hit a two-out single and Lovvorn followed with a home run down the line and over the left-field fence. It was the second homer of the season for Lovvorn, who is a former Emerald High School player.
Pembroke pulled within 4-2 in the third with Jordan Pegram and Tom Porricelli starting the rally with singles. They each moved up one base on Josh Haley’s sacrifice bunt, Kevin Dietrich smacked an RBI single to left, and Derek Funk hit a sacrifice fly to right.
Lander pushed its lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the third when Bud Lanier reached on an error, stole second, and scored on Devin Ridlehoover’s single to right field.
The Braves threatened with a big rally in the top of the fourth, starting the inning with Edmund Locklear doubling, Jason Coker singling, and Whitman hitting an RBI single. But Bearcats starting pitcher Tim Rau struck out the next three batters.
Pembroke took its first lead of the game, 6-5, with three runs in the fifth. After a pair of two-out walks, Coker, Whitman, and Pegram had consecutive RBI singles, knocking Rau out of the game. Reliever Andy Quick ended the rally with a strikeout.
Dietrich led off the sixth with his 13th homer of the season, pushing the Braves lead to 7-5. It was the first home run allowed by Quick in almost 40 innings of work. But with one out, Seth Kivett singled, Locklear singled, Coker walked, and Whitman hit a grand slam, making it 11-5. It was Whitman’s sixth homer.
Lander's second reliever of the game, Billy Veal, shut the Braves out over the final 3.2 innings. But the Bearcats were unable to mount a comeback.
Jonathan Rivera (5-1) was the winning pitcher for Pembroke while Rau (5-3) suffered the loss for Lander. Ryan Kirkman had his seventh save for the Braves, pitching three innings of one-hit, shutout relief.
Leading hitters for Pembroke were Whitman (3-for-5, home run, six RBI), Dietrich (3-for-6, home run, two RBI), Pegram (3-for-5, RBI), Locklear (2-for-4, three runs), and Coker (2-for-4, two runs, RBI).
Pacing Lander were Lovvorn (2-for-5, home run, two runs, three RBI), Ridlehoover (3-for-4, RBI), and Caskey (2-for-4).
