FLORENCE, SC – Junior center fielder Buddy Sosnoskie drilled a 410-foot solo home run in the bottom of the seventh inning to give 16th-ranked Francis Marion University a 5-4 win over Augusta State University and a sweep of Saturday afternoon's (March 26) Peach Belt Conference baseball doubleheader.  The Patriots won the opener 10-1 behind four hits from junior John Jones and seven strong innings from senior right-hander Phillip Mozingo.

Francis Marion runs its winning streak to eight games and the Patriots improve to 24-8 overall and 9-3 in the Peach Belt.  ASU falls to 15-19 and 7-8.  FMU will play host to Belmont Abbey College for a non-conference game on Wednesday at 6 p.m.

In game one, Mozingo (5-1) was gifted with a 6-0 lead after two innings.  The Florence native allowed one run on four hits in seven innings, while striking out eight and issuing only one walk.

Jones was 4-for-4 with a run scored and two runs batted in.  Freshman third baseman Michael Wilson was 2-for-4 with a triple, four runs scored, and two RBIs.  Four other Patriots also had two hits including Sosnoskie (2-for-5).

Third baseman Kevin Dobson drove in the lone ASU run with a third-inning double down the right field line.  ASU starter Stephen Ramsey (0-2) allowed nine runs, although only four were earned.

In the second contest, FMU again jumped ahead early, taking a 3-0 lead after three frames.  The first tally came home on a double play grounder in the first inning and in the third frame senior first baseman Preston Shuey and junior designated hitter Austin Smetana stroked RBI singles.

The Jaguars trimmed the margin to 3-2 on run-scoring singles by Dodson and Matt Smith in the top of the fourth.  The Patriots got one run back in the fifth when Sosnoskie tripled and later came home on an RBI single by freshman Dalton Gress.

ASU knotted the score with a pair of unearned runs in the sixth. Second baseman Jeff Rice plated both runs with a two-out double to left center.

Sosnoskie then clouted the game-winning homer over the 400-foot sign in dead center field on the damp afternoon with two outs in the seventh.

Five Patriots had two hits in the second contest: Sosnoskie, Smetana, Wilson, Jones, and second baseman Brock McCallister.

Senior righty Patrick Mincey (1-1), the third of three Patriot hurlers, earned the win with 3.1 hitless and scoreless innings.   He fanned three and walked no one.

First baseman Tristan Toorie (2-for-5) and Dodson (2-for-4) paced the Jaguars at the plate in game two.  Reliever Wilson Taylor (3-1) surrender Sosnoskie's long ball and was tagged with the loss.