FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 4-9-05

College Baseball: AASU 3, No. 15 Francis Marion 1

SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Armstrong Atlantic State baseball squad used clutch pitching and defense to come away with a 3-1 win over No. 15-ranked Francis Marion in the first game of a Peach Belt Conference series at Pirate Field on Saturday.

The Pirates (23-8, 5-7 PBC) took a quick 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Jarin Lewis’ double down the left field line scored Rob Recuenco, but Francis Marion (27-12-1, 14-10-1 PBC) threatened to take the lead in the third by loading the bases with two outs against AASU starter Chris Webb. Quentin Davis hit a looping line drive that Pirate third baseman Jared Combs snared behind his back to end the inning and preserve the lead.

It was more of the same in the fourth inning as AASU left fielder Brad Bohannon threw out a FMU runner at the plate to end the inning, then after the Pirates plated a single run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Brandon Nunez, the Patriots had their biggest threat in the sixth.

Webb loaded the bases with nobody out, then hit Nick Richardson to drive in the first run of the day. AASU summoned reliever Leon Boyd, who struck out Michael Ward, then retired Owen Brittle on a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning. Boyd hurled three shutout innings in relief of Webb, then turned the ballgame over to closer Matt Nalutka, who worked a scoreless ninth for his sixth save of the season. It was also Nalutka’s 16th consecutive scoreless appearance of the season, breaking the previous school record of 15, set by Bret Donovan in 1991. The fine relief work preserved the win for Webb (4-3), who went five-plus innings, giving up seven hits and one run while striking out three. Brooks Sinquefield (3-5) took the loss for the Patriots, giving up all three runs – two earned – and four hits in 5 1/3 innings.

Brandon Nunez led the Pirates offensively with three hits, including a double, while three Patriot players collected two hits on the day – Jason Weaver, Owen Brittle and Nick Stewart.

The two teams wrap up their three-game PBC series with a doubleheader on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

- Pirates -