COLUMBUS, Ga. -- UNC Pembroke erupted for four runs in the top of the ninth inning Monday afternoon to defeat West No. 4 seed Augusta State, 6-2, in the second round of the Peach Belt Conference Championships hosted by Columbus State University and the Sports Council of Columbus at Golden Park.
The loss dropped the Jaguars to 22-29 overall. ASU will now face No. 9 Francis Marion Tuesday morning at 9:00 a.m., Tuesday. The Jags knocked off the Patriots 11-9 Sunday afternoon on the first day of the tournament.
The 10th-ranked Braves, the East No. 3 seed, improved to 40-10 overall and will face an opponent yet to be determined Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.
Tied 2-2 going into the ninth inning, Josh Haley led off with a single to right field, advanced to second on a fielding error and to third on Jason Coker's single to left. Haley scored what proved to be the winning run on Aaron Parnell's sacrifice fly to left-center.
With two outs, the Braves added three insurance runs when Joe Mangum's bounced a single to center that plated Eitan Maoz and Jason Coker, followed by J.J. Williams RBI-single that drove in Mangum.
UNCP closer Braxton Lewis (6-0) earned his second win of the tournament after defeating Georgia College on Sunday. Against ASU, he struck out two in 1.2 innings. Starter Josh Bagley struck out five, walked two and allowed two earned runs on six hits in 7.1 innings pitched.
The Jaguars' Wilson Taylor (3-3) suffered the loss after striking out one, walking one and allowing three earned runs on four hits in one inning. Starter Stephen Ramsey struck out five, walked four and allowed two earned runs on seven hits in eight innings of work.
The Braves took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on Coker's two-run homer -- his seventh of the season -- over the left field wall that scored Haley.
ASU tied the game at 2-2 in the fifth when Jake Sutton's line-drive single to center plated Mike Smith and Caleb Saggus.
For UNCP, Haley, Coker and Williams were all 3-for-5 at the plate, while Sutton paced the Jags, going 2-for-3.
