FLORENCE, SC – Freshman right-hander Dylan Owen pitched a no-hitter as 28th-ranked Francis Marion University shut out 21st-ranked UNC Pembroke 9-0, Saturday afternoon (March 12) enroute to a sweep of a Peach Belt Conference doubleheader.

Sophomore lefty Lee Tabor tossed a four-hitter in the second game and catcher Michael Ward drove in two runs with a single and a double as the Patriots prevailed 7-1.

FMU improves to 17-6-1 overall and 7-6-1 in the PBC as the Patriots are 10-1-1 in their last 12 contests.  UNCP falls to 18-9 and 5-6.  The two squads will conclude their series with a single game on Sunday at 2 p.m.

Owen, a native of Cheraw, threw 105 pitches and allowed only three baser runners. He walked one Brave each in the first and ninth innings and hit a batter in the third frame.  The only close call to ruining his masterpiece came in the third inning when second baseman Omar Quiles drove for a ball up the middle and then threw out Nolan Johnson from his knees.  Owen also fielded a quick come-backer to the mound in the sixth inning.  He struck out seven UNCP batters.

Owen becomes the seventh Patriot to throw a no-hitter and the first since Marty Watson blanked Limestone College 1-0 on March 23, 1999.  He becomes only the second pitcher in the history of the Peach Belt Conference to toss a nine-inning no-hitter in a PBC game.

Quiles was three-for-four in the opener and scored three times, while first baseman Luke Ogletree drove in three runs with a pair of doubles.  The Patriots plated five runs n the fourth frame, when Jason Weaver drilled a bases-loaded RBI single to left and he and two other runners all scored when the ball eluded the UNCP left fielder.  Ward hit a solo home run later in the inning.

Southpaw Tyson Van Dam (3-1) was loser in game one.

In the second game, FMU again jumped to an early lead, scoring twice in the opening inning on a two-run double by Ward.  UNCP tallied its lone run of the twinbill on an RBI ground out by Kyle Whigham in the second inning.

FMU answered with a single run in the fourth inning and three runs in the fifth, two coming home on a single third baseman Brian McFadden.

FMU freshman Justin Green was two-for-three with an RBI in the second game, while Quiles was three-for-four and Ogletree was two-for-three in support of Tabor (5-1).

Left fielder Ty Morris was two-for-four in game two, including a double, while Quincy Wyche and Alex Keith collected the other two Brave safeties.  James Luper (3-3) took the loss for UNCP in the second inning.