The Pinecrest baseball team could have used a few of the 47 runs it scored in three games last week at Lumberton on Tuesday night.

Thanks to another powerful pitching performance by Andrew MacDonald, the single runs the Patriots scratched out in the first and second inning were enough to ease by the Pirates, 2-1.

The senior left-hander, now 5-0, followed up last Wednesday's no-hit performance in a five-inning run-rule win over Jack Britt with a two-hitter. On a night that he struck out 16 batters while walking only one, he set the final 14 batters down in order.

The Patriots managed to get only four hits off a pair of Pirate lefties, contributing the breeze from 12 whiffs of their own to the cold night. The win raises the record of the second-ranked 4-A team in the state (Impact Baseball poll) to 11-1.

"There wasn't a lot of action going on," Lumberton coach Paul Hodges said afterward. "It was a good pitching dual. I think the MacDonald boy got better as the game went on. Once he got warm, he was lights out."

The night was also made warm by the holding of a "Think Pink" game, in memory of Hodge's wife, Angela, who died of cancer last year. The contributions by fans went to the Angela Hodges scholarship fund at UNC-Pembroke. The Pinecrest players wore pink uniform shirts sponsored by the General Surgery Department at Pinehurst Surgical and the Lumberton team donned pink hose.

"Hodges is a great friend of mine," Patriot coach Jeff Hewitt said. "His wife was just a great woman who was always there for Paul. It was an honor that he asked us to come down here and play."

On a night that base runners were hard to come by, MacDonald, the Patriot leadoff batter, was two-for-two with a pair of walks. After opening the game with a single up the middle, he came around to score on a wild pitch, an infield error and a passed ball.

Both hits off MacDonald came in the bottom of the first. A leadoff single by Dakota Oxendine ended a string of 15 hitless innings by Patriot pitchers, covering a period of three games.

With two away, Garrick Britt also singled, putting runners on first and third. The Patriots escaped the jam, but lost catcher Trent Fredericks in the process.

With Daniel Lee at bat, MacDonald threw to first, catching Britt leaving for second early. Shortstop Dillon Maples took the throw from first baseman Tim Kaiser and fired a strike to Fredericks. The Patriot catcher made a swipe tag and held on to the ball in the collision. But he suffered a laceration on a knuckle on his glove hand that forced him to leave the ball park to get stitches.

The speed of James Baldwin helped the Patriots score what turned out to be the final run of the game in the top of the second. After spraying a single into left field, the junior stole second and third, and then scored on a wild pitch.

The Pirates scored their run in the bottom half in a similar manner. With second baseman Bailey Rush now behind the plate, MacDonald walked Danny Lee on four pitches. Lee moved around to third on a stolen base and a sacrifice. He scooted home as Rush was throwing to first base to complete a strikeout for the second out of the inning.

It was lights out not only for Pirate batters, but the Patriots as well the rest of the way. During a stretch that covered the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, McDonald and Pirate reliever Daniel Skipper combined to strike out 14 batters in a row. The Patriot lefty fanned 10 of the last 11 batters he faced.

"Andrew is our leader on the field -- there's no doubt about it," Hewitt said. "You look at what he does for us from the leadoff spot, and what is he now, 5-0 with a save? He's a leader by example."

Lumberton of the Two Rivers Conference fell to 4-8 with the loss. Under realignment, the Pirates will be in the same conference as Pinecrest in the next school year. Also on Tuesday, Scotland County defeated Richmond Senior 3-2, giving Pinecrest sole possession of first place in the Mid-Southeastern Conference with a record of 6-1. The Scots, Raiders and Hoke County each have two losses.

The Patriots are back to league play at home tonight at 7 p.m. against Douglas Byrd. The game was originally scheduled for Thursday.

"We're excited about the opportunity to get right back on the field tomorrow," Hewitt said.

Almost four years ago, left-hander Mac Read pitched a three-hitter as the Pirates defeated the Patriots 3-0 in a first-round state playoff game played at Lumberton. Patriot sophomore Seth Maness, who went on to compile a three-year record of 21-2, was the losing pitcher. Both college sophomores now, Maness pitches at East Carolina while Read is a member of the Davidson pitching staff.

R H E

Pinecrest 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 -- 2 4 1

Lumberton 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 -- 1 2 1

A. MacDonald and Fredericks, Rush (2); Martin, Skipper (4) and Musselwhite. WP A. MacDonald 5-0 LP Martin; Leading hitters (P) A. McDonald 2-2, Baldwin 1-3, Klingenschmidt 1-2, (L) Oxendine 1-3, Britt 1-3