Editor’s Note: Ben Brown wrote this article–the final game of Saturday’s doubleheader.

The UNC Wilmington baseball team won its first series of the year, as the Seahawks beat Ohio University, 5-2, in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader.

UNCW surrendered its 2-0 lead in the top half of the seventh inning, but then exploded in the home half, hammering three extra-base hits to score three runs.

Junior outfielder Tyler Molinaro, led the inning off with a double, then Friday night’s hero, Thomas Pope, came through in the clutch again when he cranked a double over the leftfielder’s head.

“Late in games I try not to think about the situation,” Pope said. “I really just try not to do too much, and just square the ball up, and hope good things happen.”

After losing the first game of the doubleheader earlier in the afternoon on a ninth-inning Bobcat home run, UNCW freshman Jordan Ramsey started his first career game on the mound, throwing four strong innings without allowing a run.

“Jordan pitched well for his first time out,” said coach Mark Scalf. “He attacked the zone, had good velocity and was able to throw his breaking ball for strikes. He was up to 71 pitches, and so we decided that he had done his job, and we wanted to give him a chance to feel good about his first start.”

UNCW received good production from the top of the lineup, as the first five hitters all recorded hits in the rubber game of the series. Molinaro, a transfer from Pitt Community College, continued his productive series going 1 for 3 at the plate in the series finale. 

“Anytime you get a transfer student you hope that he can step in and play,” Scalf said. “Tyler’s got a good approach at the plate, and he’s going to give himself a chance and put good at-bats together. There’s no doubt that it’s nice to add another left-handed bat in the lineup.”

The team travels next to N.C. State Tuesday afternoon, before beginning a weekend series with Ole Miss.

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Editor’s Note: Michael Spracklin wrote this article, covering the first game of the doubleheader. Players and coaches were unavailable for post-game interviews between the two games.

The first game of Saturday’s doubleheader marked the first loss of the 2012 season for the Seahawks, as Ohio University won 6-4.

It came down to the last inning, as a two-run homer by Ohio’s Seth Streich put the Bobcats up two runs with only the bottom of the ninth left to play. UNCW’s Hunter Ridge grounded into a game-ending double play with runners on first and third to end any threat of a comeback.

The game didn’t start well for the Seahawks. The Bobcats started with a single and then a triple to get on the scoreboard first, 1-0.

UNCW quickly answered, though, scoring Matt Campbell on a base hit by Dillon Bass in the bottom of the second inning, evening the score.

With a 4-1 lead heading to the fifth inning, Ohio notched a rally of its own, plating two in the top half of the fifth and adding the tying run in the eighth.