Savannah, Ga. (March 28, 2014) – Senior outfielder Casey Gebhardt hit a three-run homer in the top of the fourth inning, and Francis Marion University defeated Armstrong Atlantic State University 8-2 in the first game of a Peach Belt Conference baseball series in Savannah, Ga.  

The Patriots (15-15, 4-12 PBC) and the Pirates (15-12, 7-9) will continue their three-game series tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. The series will conclude on Sunday at 1 p.m.

Junior righty Jordy Santak (4-4) earned the victory on the mound after tallying four strikeouts in eight innings of work. Armstrong's Corey Crunk (0-1) took the loss after giving up six earned runs in six innings on the hill.

Gebhardt was 1-for-4 at the plate with three runs batted in. Senior outfielder Marquis Curry was 2-for-5 with two RBIs and two runs scored, while senior third baseman Luke Tollison was 1-for-3 with two RBIs as well. Senior shortstop Michael Wilson tallied an RBI on two base hits.

FMU was quickly on the scoreboard after putting up two runs in the top of the first inning. Senior outfielder Isaac Davenport kicked-off the game by drawing a walk, and later scored on an RBI triple by Wilson. Tollison hit an RBI double to score Wilson in the next at-bat. Later in the game, Davenport extended his season-high hitting streak to 10 games.

Armstrong tied the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the second inning on a homer by R.J. Dennard and a wild pitch by Santak. However, in the top of the fourth, Gebhardt abruptly put the Patriots up 5-2 with his first career homer. Junior catcher Nicholas McGee and senior first baseman David DeWolfe both scored on the play after hitting back-to-back singles earlier in the frame.

Francis Marion went up 6-2 in the top of the sixth inning on a solo home run by Curry, his second of the season. Curry continued to swing the bat well, and hit an RBI double in the top of the seventh to put FMU up by five. Wilson recorded a sacrifice bunt to move Curry to third base, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Tollison that made the score 8-2.

Santak retired nine straight batters between the fifth and seventh innings, and only allowed one hit in the eighth inning before leaving the game. Senior righty Brandon Stoots sealed the victory by inducing three groundouts in the ninth inning.

Dennard finished 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI for the Pirates. Brett Madden and Dalton Johnson also recorded base knocks.