Wingate, N.C.----The UNC Pembroke Braves used a pair of first-inning homers Tuesday night to pick up a 6-1 victory at Wingate University in NCAA Division II baseball action at Ron Christopher Stadium and Plyler Athletic Field. The Braves improve to 27-11 overall, while Wingate falls to 17-23 on the season.

Ethan Baucom and Nick Debo each homered to lead the UNCP offense, while Stibel Aleman Saba added two hits, an RBI and a run scored. River Ryan collected two hits and an RBI for the Braves, while Roberto Rivera also drove in a run.

Freshman infielder McCann Mellett (Charlotte, N.C.) had a double and an RBI to lead the Wingate offense. Juniors Ty Andrus (Winston-Salem, N.C.), Bradley Brown (Rockingham, N.C.) and Trent Wynn (New Bern, N.C.) added two hits apiece for the Bulldogs.

Baucom got the Braves on the board in the top of the first with a two-run homer to left center. Debo followed with a solo shot to make it 3-0. Rivera's RBI groundout in the top of the second put the Braves on top by four.

Sophomore catcher Andrew Llewellyn (Moseley, Va.) led off the bottom of the second with a walk, then scored on Mellett's RBI double to left center, making it 4-1.

UNCP added to its lead in the sixth, getting RBI singles from Aleman Saba and Ryan to make the final margin 6-1.

Hank Simpson got the win, moving to 3-0. He allowed a run on three hits in three innings, striking out one and walking one. Hayden Buffkin tossed three shutout innings to notch his first save of the year. Freshman right-hander Alex Rodriguez (Kannapolis, N.C.) took the loss, falling to 0-3. He allowed five runs on five hits in five innings of work, striking out two and walking two.

The Bulldogs are back in action Wednesday, hosting Limestone at 6 p.m.