Redshirt senior Trystan Kimmel has pitched 31 innings this season, allowing only 14 hits and 9 runs. Kimmel has record of 5-0 on the season and has only allowed 1 home run in his 5 games. PN Photo/Mykayla Brady.
By: Mahala Treish, Photo Editor
UNCP Baseball team swept Clarion University of Pennsylvania off Sammy Cox Field, with all 3 wins going over 18 runs.
Clarion arrived March 4, to take on the Braves over a long weekend, with a single game on Friday and a doubleheader on Saturday.
On Friday, the Braves defended Sammy Cox Field with a final score of 20-6, a season-high run total for the team.
The 1st inning was hot for UNCP who got their first run early in the game by Spencer Faulkner, a redshirt sophomore.
Faulkner went on to have 5 runs, the most of the day. Right after Faulkner’s first run, Andrew Mills, redshirt junior, hit the ball to right center garnering 3 runs for the Braves.
Trystan Kimmel, redshirt senior, was on fire with 11 strikeouts which helped keep Clarion’s runs for the day low. Clarion did not gain a single run until the 5th inning of the game making the score 10-1.
UNCP dominated Clarion on Saturday 20-1, the fifth straight win for the Braves. UNCP scored their first run by Owen Taylor, freshman, in the 2nd inning on a throwing error by Clarion. Taylor would record 5 runs for the day, a team-high.
In the 4th inning Gage Hammonds, redshirt senior hit a home run which brought Faulkner and Ethan Ott, freshman, home, making the score to 10-1. Hammonds had a team-high for home runs, with 2. UNCP recorded 5 home runs in total.
Brandon Kunz, redshirt junior, threw 71 pitches, with 50 of them strikes.
The Braves stopped Clarion from making a comeback on Sunday18-10 at the Sammy Cox Field.
UNCP finished the game with three home runs and 15 hits for the day. The Braves scored for the first time during the 1st inning by Faulkner.
Ott tied with Faulkner for the most hits on the day with 5. Ott also recorded 2 home runs. UNCP only had 4 strikeouts on the day and were walked 8 times. In the 6th inning the Braves scored 6 times, a game-high for the day. By the end of the weekend UNCP’s record was 13-5.
“We started off to a slow start but once we started playing our game and not worrying so much about the other team, we started to look really good,” Faulkner said.
The next home game is March 16 against USC Aiken at 4pm.