FLORENCE, S.C. - Matthew Suggs threw 135 pitches over nine innings and held Francis Marion to three earned runs to lead the Georgia Southwestern baseball team to a 10-4 victory in Game 1 of the weekend Peach Belt Conference series with the Patriots. All four of Francis Marion's runs were scored over the first two innings in the opener. FMU won Game 2, 5-2, to earn a split of the doubleheader. 

GSW ended the day with a 4-12 overall record, 2-6 in the PBC, while FMU sits at 8-7, 1-4 in PBC play.

The three-game series continues on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

GAME 1: GSW 10, FRANCIS MARION 4

Stephen Eldridge, Zach Moss and Josh Sanders collected RBIs in the Hurricanes four-run first inning. Eldridge drove home Devin Newberry with a RBI double. Moss brought around Evan Alderman and Eldridge with a triple and Sanders plated Moss with a single.

Francis Marion answered with a three-run home half of the inning to pull within a run of the Hurricanes.

GSW wasted little time adding back onto their lead. Jarrod Taylor drove in Newberry with a RBI double in the second and Eldridge tallied his second RBI of the game with a sacrifice fly that brought home Alderman.

After FMU cut the GSW lead to 6-4 in the second inning, Neal Chambless picked up an RBI in the third to stretch the margin back to three runs.

Les Cromer pushed the advantage to 8-4 in the fifth inning when he singled to center to bring around Sanders.

Tired of just scoring runs, Newberry got in on the RBI race with a single in the seventh that scored Sanders.

The Hurricanes closed out the scoring in Game 1 with an unearned run in the eighth inning.

Alderman and Sanders finished with three hits apiece for GSW. Both men scored twice. Newberry collected two hits in the opener and Eldridge and Moss each drove in a pair.

Michael Wilson and Casey Gebhardt had three-hit games for FMU. Dalton Gress collected two RBIs.

Suggs (1-2) scattered 11 hits, walked three and struck out six.

Spencer Jordan (1-2) lasted 1 1/3 innings and surrendered six runs and five hits while walking one and striking out one. Cody Dix allowed a run in his 1 2/3 innings of work. Chance DuCharme tossed four innings, gave up seven hits, two runs, two walks and struck out a batter. Austin Cox pitched the final two frames for the Patriots.

GAME 2: GSW 2, FRANCIS MARION 5

The Hurricanes started Game 2 strong as well, making the most of a FMU error to push across two runners in the first inning.

FMU followed with a run in the bottom half of the frame and Dalton Gress belted a solo home run in the second to tie the game at 2-2.

The Patriots grabbed their first lead of the afternoon in the fourth inning when Gress launched his second round-tripper of the contest.

FMU padded its lead in the fifth with what would turn out to be the final two runs of the game.

Zac Wittmus (0-4) took the loss for the Hurricanes, giving up eight hits and five runs in eight innings of work. He did not walk a batter and struck out eight.

Daniel Barfield (3-0) notched the win for the Patriots, hurling eight innings of three-hit, two-run ball with both runs being unearned. Barfield walked two and struck out five. Jeremy Hatfield added his first save of 2014 by throwing a scoreless ninth.