K-Tribe sweeps Hillcats

Published in Sports on June 15, 2007 1:47 PM

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KINSTON -- Kinston polished off its first-half Southern Division title with an 8-3 decision over Lynchburg at historic Grainger Stadium on Thursday evening.

The K-Tribe completed a four-game sweep of the Hillcats, who were in contention for the Northern Division first-half title. Kinston fashioned a 7-1 ledger in its final first-half homestand of the season, and has won 15 of its last 16 games overall.

Right-hander Sung-Wei Tseng allowed two earned runs in six innings and picked up his first victory in six decisions. Tseng entered with the game with a 3.80 ERA, but had been the victim of low run support until Thursday's contest.

Max Ramirez opened the scoring with a first-inning, sacrifice RBI. Nathan Panther clubbed a two-run homer, his eighth of the season, in the third inning to put Kinston ahead 3-1.

Ramirez and John Drennen each provided a fifth-inning RBI. Wes Hodges and Josh Rodriguez added RBI hits later in the game as Kinston improved to 8-3 this season against Lynchburg.

Matt Meyer and Scott Roehl supported Tseng with three innings of scoreless relief.

Serguey Linares (1-3) took the loss for Lynchburg.

Kinston concludes first-half division play today at Myrtle Beach. Game one in the three-game set begins at 7 p.m.