Locklear’s dinger defeats Pfeiffer

By Markus Franklin
Assistant Sports Editor

On April 15, the UNCP baseball team defeated Pfeiffer University 9-3 at Sammy Cox Field despite cold temperatures.

The wind, cold and constant changing of Falcon pitchers seemed to have the Braves confused the first three innings.

The Falcons used nine different pitchers in the game and sent a new player to the mound every inning for the first seven.

“It was difficult for our offense to find a rhythm in the first few innings because they kept on changing pitchers,” Manager Paul O’Neil said. “It was very difficult to adapt to, but our kids were resilient and kept plugging away.”

The Braves fell behind early in the first three innings after the Falcons scored one run in the second and two in the third.

Starting pitcher Shawn Bumgarner kept UNCP close throughout, allowing just six hits in five innings of work, while striking out four.

“Shawn didn’t have his best stuff tonight on the mound, but he gave us a chance to win,” O’Neil said.

The Black and Gold offense finally clicked in the sixth inning as Derek Funk provided a two-run triple with two outs, giving the Braves a 4-3 lead.

“Derek had a big triple that gave us the late lead,”
O’Neil said. “That might have been his only hit of the night, but it came at just the right time.”

UNCP’s Edmund Locklear belted a pinch-hit three-run homer over the right field wall in the next inning to secure the victory.

Before Locklear’s homer, Josh Bentley drew a leadoff walk and Jason Morales followed with a single through the left side.

UNCP used nine hits and eight walks to their advantage against Pfeiffer.

“I decided to put Edmund in there because the last time we had Whitman in that spot with the bases-loaded in the fifth, he didn’t come through, so I made the switch,” O’Neil said. “The switch paid off and Edmund gave us a bigger cushion.”

John Rivera pitched four scoreless innings of relief to pick up his third win of the season and helped the Braves improve their record to 30-19 overall.

Rivera struck out four and scattered three hits.

The Braves will have their last home game of the season against Catawba on April 23 at 6 p.m.

UNCP will honor outfielder Josh Bentley, catcher Stuart Champion and shortstop Jason Morales before the game as these three seniors will be honored for Senior Night.