COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers hit five home runs, including a pair by Armando Valentin to take an 11-4 victory over St. Augustine's in the first game of a non-conference baseball doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Tiger Field.

St. Augustine's used a pair of big-run innings to win the second game 17-9 and earn a split of the series.

The Tigers, now 3-1 on the season, jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first game. David White Jr. had an RBI single. Two batters later, Reinaldo Santiago blasted a three-run homer to left field. Valentin had a three-run homer in the second inning for a 7-0 lead.

St. Augustine's cut the lead to 7-4 in the fourth inning, but the Tigers added three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Andrew McCoy led off the inning with a homer to left field. White came up two batters later and hit a two-run blast to left field for a 10-4 lead. The Tigers got the final run in the sixth inning when Valentin led off with a solo homer to left field.

James Roman went five innings and gave up three hits to pick up the win on the mound.

In the second game, Benedict struck first with a two-run double by Skyler Sabado in the second inning. The Falcons erupted for six runs in the third inning, then added another six runs in the fourth inning for a 12-4 lead. White had a solo home run for the Tigers in the bottom of the third and Valentin had a sacrifice fly.

Benedict plated three runs in the bottom of the fifth when James Roman walked with the bases loaded, and a wild pitch and a passed ball scored two more runs to cut the lead to 12-7.

After St. Augustine's added another run in the sixth, Benedict made it 13-9 with two runs in the bottom of the frame. Valentin reached on an error with the bases loaded to plate a run and White hit a sacrifice fly to make it 13-9. The Falcons put the game out of reach with four runs in the top of the seventh.

Benedict is back in action on Wednesday, with a home game against Winston-Salem State starting at 1 p.m.