Behind a walk-off single from senior Josh Abshire, the UNC Wilmington Seahawks defeated the Indiana State Sycamores 3-2 in the first game of a three game weekend series.

Abshire came to bat in the bottom of the ninth with runners on the corners and one out. After fouling off a suicide squeeze attempt, Abshire laced a single up the middle that got through the infield and drove in Stephen Linkous for the game-winning run.

“It was intense, I’m glad to be put in that situation,” Abshire said. “We tried a couple different things, we tried a squeeze and tried a hit and run. Ended up getting in a count just wanting to focus on getting the ball in play. Thought I had a pretty good chance of beating a double play if I could get it somewhere in the infield and it worked out. I won’t ever forget it.”

Corey Dick started the ninth inning rally with a one-out single through the right side to extend his hit streak to 12 games. Linkous entered the game as a pinch runner and immediately stole second base, also advancing to third off a wild throw from the Sycamore catcher.

Indiana State elected to intentionally walk Andy Austin, giving Abshire his opportunity to end the game.

“I’m happy for any of our guys that are in a position like that,” UNCW head coach Mark Scalf said. “Josh came off the bench and did a great job of getting a bunt down in the seventh, and then he rolls back up there in a game-winning situation and he was able to execute.”

Despite remaining winless on the year, defending CAA pitcher of the year Mat Batts threw one of his best games of the season, allowing two runs in six and a third innings. He struck out eight batters before exiting the game with runners on the corners with one out in the top of the seventh.

Senior Kelly Secrest came in and got the Seahawks out of the jam in the seventh with two quick outs. He would pitch the rest of the game and improve his record to 4-1 this year out of the bullpen.

“He competes with tremendous confidence,” Scalf said. “He’s going to attack the zone, and trust his stuff. His stuff is pretty good, but he’s an even better competitor.”

Aside from Dick, third baseman Ryan LaGrange continues to hit well and recover from a slow start to the season. The third baseman went 2-4 with two RBIs, including his first home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth that just barely got over the fence in left field.

“I knew I got all of it, I was just hoping it was enough to get through the wind,” LaGrange said. “It’s nice to square some up and find some holes out there.”

LaGrange also doubled home a run in the bottom of the sixth, which at the time gave UNCW a 2-1 lead. All three runs scored by the Seahawks in the contest came off of two strike hits.

The Seahawks handed Indiana State only their second loss of the year (12-2) and ended their 12-game winning streak coming into today.

With the win the Seahawks are back to .500 on the year with an 8-8 record heading into tomorrows double-header against the Sycamores. Tomorrow’s starting pitchers will be sophomores Nick Monroe and Ryan Foster. First pitch for the double header will be at 1:00.