State scoreboard, Friday, Feb. 2

Noah Stout hit .351 with 16 home runs
 in two seasons at Florence-Darlington
Tech. (Francis Marion photo)

Player of the day: Noah Stout, Francis Marion, 2 HR, 6 RBI

Game of the day (I may not pick one EVERY day)

Francis Marion 11, Newberry 9, 13 innings
Noah Stout has moved his game a few miles southeast in Florence County, but the slugger looks none the worse for wear one game into his career at Francis Marion.

The junior outfielder's towering home run in the 13th inning lifted the Patriots to a walk-off win over Newberry. It was his second homer of the game and capped a six-RBI performance for the transfer from Florence-Darlington Tech just up the road.

There were several momentum swings to get the game to that point at Sparrow Stadium.

A pair of  unearned runs staked coach Russell Triplett's Wolves to a early lead before FMU built a 3-2 lead after six innings. A bases-loaded walk tied the score in the seventh and Jesse Free singled in the go-ahead run for Newberry later in the inning.

A wild pitch in the eighth inning gave the Wolves a 5-3 lead, and Jacob LeBron's three-run double made the score 8-3 entering the bottom of the ninth. Stout pulled coach Art Inabinet's Pacers within two runs with a three-run homer. A fielder's choice and Tanner Cannon's single drew FMU even, forcing extra innings.

Jomar Lugo had an RBI single for Newberry in the 10th, but Stout got his fourth RBI in two innings in the bottom of the frame by hustling out a fielder's choice to avoid a potential game-ending double play.

Hunter Looper led off the Patriots' 13th with a double and Stout, who originally came south from Michigan to play at Clemson, followed with a clout to right-center. After taking a few steps, he paused briefly to admire his handiwork before dropping his bat and completing his trip around the bases.

The teams play in Florence again Saturday before moving to Newberry for the series finale on Sunday.

Wolves windups: LeBron had three walks in addition to his bases-loaded double ... Lugo joined LeBron with three RBI, while Free had three hits ... Patriot-ics: Cannon, Alex Elliott, Zack Summerville and Peyton Wilson joined Stout in getting two hits.

Elsewhere: Reece Fields struck out seven in six innings and David Lewis homered as NCAA Division II No. 3 North Greenville won the opener of a Florida road swing ...  USC Beaufort scored seven runs in the eighth inning to offset a six-run seventh by Anderson in the opener for both teams. Carson Phillips and Aiden Driscoll-Sadusky each had 2 hits, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored ...  Coker jumped ahead with three runs in the second and iced a win over Belmont Abbey with a four-run eighth. Aaron Diaz allowed a run on five hits over six innings ... Florence-Darlington Tech parlayed 6 hits, 7 walks and 5 Chattahoochee Valley errors into a run-rule win the the first game in a Visit Panama City Beach JUCO Classic stacked with ranked schools. The Stingers, who scored eight runs in the fifth, face Chipola on at 12:30 p.m. Saturday and will play again later in the day ... Lander wiped out an early two-run deficit with seven runs over the first two innings to beat Erskine for a second consecutive day ... Kris Levensteins hit two of USC Union's five homers in the opener as the Bantams split a pair with Roane State ... UNC Pembroke scored the game's final 14 runs to handle USC Aiken ... Lee scored five runs over the first two innings to claim the series opener against former Southern States Athletic Conference foe Southern Wesleyan ... Austin Paradise's pinch-hit single in the eighth kept Columbia International from being no-hit in its season opener ... Pikeville starter Riley Paulino allowed a hit and struck out eight in six shutout innings as the Bears beat Voorhees ...

Coker 8, Belmont Abbey 2 - Cok: Kody Hanna 1B, 2B, BB, R, 4 RBI

Francis Marion 11, Newberry 9, 13 innings - Fra: Zack Summerville 1B, 2B, BB, 2 RBI

Lander 8, Erskine 6 - Lan: Chandler Moeller 1B, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI

Lee 9, Southern Wesleyan 5 - Sou: Cam  Mitchem HR, 3 RBI
North Greenville 5, Barry 1 - Nor: Dawson Taylor 2 IP, H, 0 R, 4 K
Pikeville 23, Voorhees 3, 7 innings - Voo: Pedro Rijos IP, 2 K, 2 HBP

Point 11, Columbia International 0 - Col: Michael Meilinger 4 IP, 3 H, R, 4 K

UNC Pembroke 16, USC Aiken 4 - Aik: Capers Molinaroli 2-5, R, RBI
USC Beaufort 10, Anderson 7 - Bea: Josh Patterson 6 IP, 0 ER

USC Union 10, Roane State 7, Game 1 - Uni: Kris Levensteins 2 HR, 4 RBI
Roane State 10, USC Union 1, Game 2 - Uni: Mason Elrod 2B, SB, RBI

Panama City Beach (Fla.) JUCO Classic
Florence-Darlington Tech 13, Chattahoochee Valley 3, 5 innings - Flo: Ethan Plyler 1B, HR, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI

Chipola 4, Miami Dade 1
Gulf Coast 2, Pearl River 1
Northwest Florida 6, Florida Southwest 3
St. John's River 5, Dyersburg 2
State College of Florida 11, McLennan 9
Wabash Valley 11, Andrew 2
Wallace-Dothan 8, Meridian 7

(12/17)