FLORENCE, Ala.—Host North Alabama scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a tie and edge the Christian Brothers University Bucs 6-5 Tuesday afternoon in a non-conference game.

The Lions (17-17) jumped to an early lead as Jared Mothershed hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the second.

The Bucs (5-30) answered with an unearned run in the top of the third as Alfredo Arroyo (San Antonio, Texas/James Madison HS) hit an RBI single after Matt Van Slyke (Oxford, Miss./Oxford HS) reached on an error.  UNA pushed their lead back to two runs as Dewayne Gunn hit a leadoff homer in the bottom of the fourth.

The Bucs scored a run in the seventh as David Alan Wright reached on a bases loaded hit batter, scoring Caleb Burrow (Bartlett, Tenn./Bartlett HS), who had reached on a one-out walk.  They tied it at three in the eighth inning as Joseph Kaminski (Sherwood, Ark./Little Rock Catholic HS) singled and scored on a bases-loaded Burrow single.

UNA took the lead with a three-run eighth inning.  The inning started innocently, with a pair of strikeouts, but three straight singles to go with an error produced two runs, and three straight walks pushed the third home.

The Bucs scored two runs in the ninth as two one-out walks set the stage for a two-run double by Kaminski.  UNA reliever Patrick Hinton struck out the Bucs' last two batters to strand Kaminski, the potential game-tying run, on third base after a wild pitch.

Kaminski went 3-for-5 with two RBI, pacing the Bucs' 11-hit attack.  Arroyo, Wright, and Yogi Vanaman (Cordova, Tenn./Cordova HS) added two hits each.

Roberto Martinez (Catano, Puerto Rico/) scattered nine hits and two walks over seven and two-third innings, allowing six earned runs.

The Bucs return to action tomorrow afternoon at 4, weather permitting, as they host Rhodes.