HARDEEVILLE — Dominant pitching and sparkling defense propelled the University of South Carolina Beaufort baseball team to a season-opening doubleheader sweep of visiting Fisher (Mass.) College on Sunday at Richard Gray Sports Complex.
Starting pitchers CJ Kelly (Longwood, Fla.) and Junior Delatorre (Beaufort, S.C.) each pitched six scoreless innings as the Sand Sharks' pitching staff allowed just 11 hits over six innings while beating the Falcons 12-0 in the opener and 2-1 in the finale. Senior right fielder Blake Cilwick (Hobe Sound, Fla.) powered the offense, going 5-for-8 with three RBIs and three runs scored — including the winning run in the bottom of the ninth in the nightcap.
USCB (2-0) jumped out early in the first game, scoring three runs in the first and two more in the second for a 5-0 advantage. The Sand Sharks tacked on single runs in the fourth and fifth, and Kelly (1-0) cruised through six frames, limiting Fisher to three hits and a walk while striking out three. Two of the three hits were infield singles.
The Sand Sharks broke it open with a five-run sixth inning to invoke the 10-run mercy rule, and junior Christian Pfaff (Rutherfordton, N.C.) left the bases loaded in the seventh to preserve the shutout.
Cilwick led the 12-run outburst, going 3-for-4 with three RBIs and scoring twice. Junior Aaron Bishop (Pawleys Island, S.C.) went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs in his USCB debut, and senior second baseman Jon Andrews (Kingsland, Ga.) was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs.
The defense shined behind the pitchers all day and helped Delatorre get out of a couple of early jams with inning-ending double plays in the second and third. The junior right-hander allowed four hits and a walk over six innings, but the Sand Sharks couldn't muster much run support against Fisher right-hander Victor Mendez (Lawrence, MA).
Ashly Morris (Savannah, Ga.) hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning to give USCB a 1-0 lead, and that's where it stood until Dominic Zaher (Chelmsford, MA) laced a double off the left-field fence to tie it in the eighth.
The Falcons had the go-ahead run at third with two outs, but junior Gage Roth (Lafayette, Ind.) came on and induced a fly ball to end the threat. Roth (1-0) issued a two-out walk in the ninth before getting out of the inning to give USCB a chance to win it in the home half.
Cilwick started the bottom of the ninth with a double inside the bag at third and went to third on a sacrifice bunt by Erik Armstrong (Jupiter, Fla.), and the Falcons elected to intentionally walk the next two hitters to set up a force at any base. That brought up sophomore catcher Alex Bonilla (Boynton Beach, Fla.), who hit a chopper to first base that scored Cilwick with the winning run.