FLORENCE, SC – With temperatures reaching near record highs on Saturday (Feb. 25), the 18th-ranked Francis Marion University bats warm up to a season-high 22-hit total en route to a 16-7 marathon victory over Augusta University in Peach Belt Conference baseball action.

Francis Marion improves to 13-1 overall and 2-0 in the PBC, while the Jaguars fall to 4-7 and 0-2. The two teams will play the series finale on Sunday at 2 p.m. on FMU's Cormell Field at Sparrow Stadium.  Admission is $8 for adults and $5 for students.

Saturday's contest lasted 3:32 and featured a combined 35 hits and 39 players used.

FMU junior outfielders Zach Paquette and Reese Cooley both rapped out four hits with Paquette driving in four and Cooley one. 

Patriot junior designated hitter William Robbins finished the afternoon 3-for-4 with two RBIs, while freshman third baseman Harris White was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and a solo home run.  White, the ninth-inning hero from Friday's night win, finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle while also extending his hitting streak to six games and his consecutive games safely reaching base to all 14.  Junior left fielder Brooks Kennedy was 3-for-6 with two runs scored and two driven in.

FMU freshman right-hander Christian Umphlett (3-0) earned the win with four innings of solid relief.  He scattered five hits, fanned three, and walked one although he did allow his first run of the season in 17.2 innings of work.

Righty David Hagelston (0-2), the second of seven Jaguar hurlers, was tagged with the loss.

Both teams scored two runs in the opening frame and after Augusta scored twice in the top of the fourth, the score was again knotted, this time at 5-5.

FMU took the lead for good at 6-5 on senior second baseman Antonio Pino's run-scoring single in the bottom of the fourth.  An RBI-single by Paquette and a sacrifice fly by junior first baseman Trey Chapman upped the margin to 8-5 in the fifth frame.  The Patriots scored seven times in the bottom of the seventh on eight singles.

Second baseman Cody Lanford led Augusta at the plate with a 3-for-5 day that included a double, a run scored, and one driven in.  Right fielder Will Zimmer had two hits including a solo home run.