The Union Pines baseball team remained on a tear Thursday, burying cross-county rival North Moore 21-0 in five innings.

After a scoreless first, the Vikings built a 6-0 lead in the second and things snowballed from there. The visitors followed that up with eight runs in the third. They tacked on two more in the fourth and five in the fifth.

Union Pines starter Gabe Gonzalez picked up the win, scattering four hits over four innings, walking two and striking out three. He also had an RBI double, drew two walks and scored four runs.

The Mustang pitchers — five in total — had trouble finding the strike zone. Four of the Vikings' runs came on bases-loaded walks. Defensive miscues also proved costly.

Seth Breasseale put the exclamation point on the evening with two 3-run bombs over the right field fence. Now with 12 long balls on the year, Breasseale is the proud new owner of the school record for home runs in a season. He finished with eight RBIs on the night — the two others came on a single in the second inning.

Nic Collins drove in three runs, one off a single in the second and two off a double in the third.

Union Pines (17-4) will host Pinecrest Monday in another Moore County showdown. It then travels to Southern Lee Friday for an important Cape Fear Valley Conference game. The Vikings are atop the CFVC standings, a game ahead of the Cavaliers.

The Mustangs (15-4) will have over a week off before hosting a critical match-up with North Rowan, one of the two teams it is battling for the Yadkin Valley Conference regular season crown.