Baseball: Kirby lights out as No. 22 Ardrey Kell wins at South Mecklenburg

Jacob Kirby was every bit of the ace that Ardrey Kell was looking for to complete a series sweep of South Mecklenburg.

The University of North Carolina baseball commit fanned 12 batters in a 4-1 road win on Friday.

Back-to-back doubles in the third sparked a rally that would give the Knights an early advantage. Dylan Veverka skipped a ball off the base of the wall in left for an extra base hit, then scored a batter later when Brady Marconi slashed a run-scoring hit the opposite way.

South Mecklenburg answered back in the fourth to knot things at 1-1.

With runners on the corners and two out, the Sabres attempted a steal of second that ended up scoring Brody Taylor after Marconi's throw down skipped off the glove of Veverka and sputtered towards the outfield.

Ardrey Kell was quick to answer an inning later. Veverka slammed a Cole Gillis offering to the gap in right center to plate Cade Sabin and Tyler Smith from scoring position. Michael Craft would punch a line drive through the right side to score Veverka with two down in the frame to inflate the lead to 4-1.

Kirby's willingness to keep batters off balance with a heavy mix of secondary offerings early in the count had the Sabres offense paralyzed throughout the night. Of his dozen strikeouts, eight came via called third strike.

Winners of seven straight, the No. 22 ranked Knights host a doubleheader on Tuesday against Harding. They are now 6-0 in So. Meck conference play.