PIKEVILLE, Ky. – The University of Pikeville baseball team held on for a pair of wins over St. Francis (Ind.) on Saturday, topping the Cougars 11-10 in game one, followed by a 6-4 win in the nightcap at Johnnie LeMaster Field.

The Bears (11-5) and Cougars (3-15-1) will play the final two games of the weekend series on Sunday at Noon ET in Pikeville.

UPIKE is now 7-0 at home this season and has won eight of its last nine games.

James Brooks snuck in to pick up his first win of the season in game one after scattering four hits for two runs in 1 2/3 innings, while Bryce Carden moved to an even 2-2 after allowing four runs on seven hits with four strikeouts in just over five innings of work in game two.

A.J. Carkner recorded his second and third saves of the season on Saturday, pitching two shutout innings with four strikeouts in the opener before allowing just one hit in one inning of work to close the day.

After falling behind 4-0 in the first inning of the opener, UPIKE responded with eight runs in the second and two more in the third to quickly lead 10-4. That lead looked comfortable until the Cougars tied things up in the third inning alone.

Still tied 10-10 in the fifth inning, Travis Haen roped a one-out single before coming home with the winning run on an RBI single by Josh Bailey. Matt Peterson went 3 for 3 in the win, while Bailey drove in three runs on two hits, including one of two UPIKE doubles in the game.

UPIKE grabbed the big lead early in game two with a five-run second, helping it hold off a three-run rally in the sixth that saw St. Francis cut its deficit to two at 6-4. But with Carden dealing, the early runs ended up being enough as all but one player in the Bears' lineup registered a hit.

Peterson and Daniel Sterenburg both tallied doubles, while Jorge Perez drove in a pair of runs with a triple.

-UPIKE-