FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1-28-01

College Baseball: No. 28 Armstrong Atlantic State 8, St. Andrews 1

SAVANNAH, Ga. – Freshman second baseman Ryan Chromek went 5-for-5 to lead a 17-hit attack as Armstrong Atlantic State defeated St. Andrews, 8-1, on Sunday afternoon to earn a three-game sweep of the Knights.

Chromek – who went 4-for-6 in the Pirates' season-opening doubleheader sweep on Saturday – collected four singles and a double on the afternoon in helping AASU improve to 3-0 on the young season. Junior lefthander Kyle Blevins gave up just three hits and a first-inning run to St. Andrews (0-3), pitching five innings for his first victory of the season.

The Pirates trailed, 1-0, heading into the bottom of the third inning, but Chromek singled to lead off the inning and started a streak of five straight hits for the Pirates, driving in two runs. Sophomore Chris Boaen added an RBI single later in the inning to put AASU up 3-0. In the fifth inning, AASU again struck for three runs, chasing St. Andrews starter Mitch Bowman, who took the loss for the Knights, giving up 12 hits and six runs in 4.1 innings.

Adam Olejniczak and Andrew Moss combined for four innings of hitless relief for the Pirates, who have won seven straight against the Knights dating back to the 1999 season.

The Pirates are next in action on Saturday, Feb. 3 as they host Gardner-Webb for an 11:30 a.m. doubleheader. St. Andrews returns to Laurinburg to open its home schedule on Wednesday, Jan. 31 against UNC Pembroke at 2:30 p.m.

- Pirates -