SAVANNAH, Ga. -- Armstrong Atlantic notched an 18-7 win against Paine on Tuesday afternoon at Pirate Field for the Pirates' third consecutive win of the season.
Armstrong (6-3) rapped out 17 hits in the victory against the Lions (2-8) in the first meeting between the two teams since 1989.
The Pirates took an early 1-0 lead in the second inning on Ryan Patterson's RBI double, but Paine answered with two runs in the top of the third on a two-RBI double by Avery Wilson to take a 2-1 advantage.
Armstrong then sent 10 men to the plate in a six-run third-inning to take a 7-2 lead. Cody Sherlin's two-out three-run double into the left field corner was the big hit of the inning.
Paine did not back down, eventually cutting the lead back to two runs with a single run in the fifth inning on a Fentress Henderson RBI single and two runs in the sixth on back-to-back RBI singles by Darian Alston, Jr., and Joseph Graves.
Armstrong plated four in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by R.J. Dennard, an RBI double by Tyler Avera and a two-run single by Joey Lupus. Each team scored a pair of runs in the seventh, then the Pirates capped the scoring in the eighth with five runs, keyed by a two-RBI single by Clayton Miller.
Nathan Ward (1-0) picked up the win for the Pirates in his first collegiate start, hurling three innings of two-hit, two-run ball, walking one while striking out four.
Brandon Jackson (0-3) took the loss for the Lions, giving up eight hits and seven runs in four innings of work, walking three.
