WILMINGTON, N.C. – A two-run home run in the bottom of the eighth led UNC Wilmington to a late 3-2 win over the Saint Joseph's baseball team at Brooks Field on Saturday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• UNC Wilmington (8-7) opened the scoring in the bottom of the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Aiden Evans.
 
• Saint Joseph's (5-7) drew level in the fourth.  Singles by Ryan Picollo and Justin Igoe were followed by a Brandon Drapeau walk to load the bases.  Two batters later, Max Hitman drew a free pass of his own to force in Picollo and tie the game.
 
• Picollo's two-out single in the fifth scored Luke Zimmerman to give the Hawks a 2-1 lead.
 
• That's where it would stay until the eighth.  Trevor Marsh hit a two-out single to bring up Tanner Thach, who hit his third two-run home run in two nights to give the Seahawks a lead they would not relinquish.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Connor Kane tossed three perfect innings for UNCW to earn the win and improve to 1-1.  Luke Smith took the loss, falling to 0-2.
 
• Ryan DeSanto turned in a strong start for SJU, allowing one run on just two hits while striking out six.  Jacob Shafer allowed two runs on three hits and four walks in four innings for the Seahawks.
 
• Picollo and Marsh were the only players to record multiple hits in the game for either side.
 
UP NEXT
The teams will wrap up the series on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.