The UNCW baseball team returned to Brooks Field on Tuesday looking to regain some momentum after Florida State swept the Seahawks over the weekend.

UNCW easily got back into the win column with some early offense and quality pitching from a freshman in a 9-3 victory over North Carolina Central University.

The Seahawks got the bats going right at the start, scoring eight runs on nine hits in the first four innings. 

Luke Dunlap and Joe Bertone provided UNCW with more than enough offense. The two went a combined 6-8 with six RBI’s and three runs. 

Dunlap especially needed this breakout game. The senior was a preseason all-conference selection, but only had two hits in his first 18 at-bats. 

“Everybody goes through slumps,” Dunlap said. “This game is about adjustments and making the right adjustment at the right time… Going through that made me realize how much this game is about adjustments.”

The Seahawks gained an early lead in the first inning with a two-out rally. After Casey Golden singled and advanced to second on a wild pickoff throw, cleanup hitter Gavin Stupienski scored Golden with an RBI-single to left.

UNCW did most of its damage in the second and third innings. Dunlap led off the second inning with a double to set the table for Bertone. 

The designated hitter drove the first pitch he saw over the left-center field wall for a two-run homer, his first of the season.

The two sluggers continued their production in the bottom of the third. Dunlap laced a two-RBI single into right field and Bertone followed with another run scoring base hit.

“Really good day in the middle of the lineup,” UNCW Head Coach Mark Scalf said. “It gave us an opportunity to get a couple pitchers on the mound who hadn’t had that chance up to this point.”

Coach Scalf called upon freshman Austin Easter on the mound to make his collegiate debut in a mid-week start. The head coach thought it was very important to give the freshman some experience.