WILSON, N.C. – The Barton baseball team (29-20, 19-11) suffered a 17-8 loss to UNC Pembroke (28-20, 16-14) Saturday afternoon on Senior Day in a Conference Carolinas contest at Nixon Field.
The Braves' Landon Lucas (Blythewood, S.C.) hit two of the visitors' four home runs and finished with five runs batted in as UNC Pembroke took two-of-three from Barton in the final weekend league series of the season.
UNC Pembroke's Luis Ramirez (Teaneck, N.J.) opened the contest with a two-run round-tripper in the first inning while Isaias Villarreal (Detroit, Mich.) added a solo home run in the second frame as the Braves jumped out to a 14-4 advantage after five innings of work and never looked back in the victory.
Barton junior third baseman
Yariel Diaz (Fort Myers, Fla.) hit a three-run home run in the ninth inning – giving him a team-leading nine home runs and 58 RBI on the season – but the Bulldogs dug themselves too much into a hole early in the contest.
UNC Pembroke's Jonathan Jacobs (Lumberton, N.C.) improved to 4-4 on the season after earning the victory while Barton senior
Matthew Rivers (Kernersville, N.C.) (2-5) was tagged with the loss.
Barton is the sixth seed in the 2025 Conference Carolinas Championship and will take on third-seeded Belmont Abbey (34-14) in the opening round on Thursday, May 1, at CaroMont Health Park in Gastonia, N.C., at 7:00 p.m. UNC Pembroke is the fifth seed and will face fourth-seeded North Greenville (42-11) at Sims Legion Park at 1:00 p.m., in Gastonia, N.C.
