MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. - Florida Southern opened its three-game weekend series here Saturday afternoon at Scarborough Field by dropping its series opener to 12th-ranked Mount Olive.

The loss snapped the Mocs three-game win streak and pushed its record to 9-6 on the season, while the Trojans improved to 12-4 on the season.

In Saturday's series opener, UMO jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to a two-out solo home run by Brandon Reitano over the fence in left field off a Moccasin senior hurler Clay Chapman (Orlando, Fla.). The homer was the seventh of the season for Reitano.

The Mocs, who were retired in order by UMO hurler Gunner Kines in the first two innings, broke up Kines' no-hit bid with a one-out single to right center by freshman designated hitter Scottie Withrow (Seminole, Fla.) and he moved to second when junior shortstop Casey Eddinger (Crawfordville, Fla.) was hit by a pitch. Kines, though, would prevent further damage as he struck out both senior second baseman Conor Szczerba (Titusville, Fla.) and junior left fielder Trevor Freeman (Shalimar, Fla.) to end the inning.

UMO put two runners on base in the bottom of the third thanks to a lead off double and walk, but Chapman got out of the jam thanks to a fielder's choice grounder and a foul out to keep the score 1-0.

The Trojans got some insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth inning as they recorded four hits and scored four runs to take a 5-0 lead. The big hit in the inning was a 3-run homer over the left field wall by Willi Martin. It was the fourth home run allowed by Chapman this season and second of the game for the Trojans.

From that point, UMO turned the game over to Kines on the mound as the junior left-hander retired 12 of the final 14 Moccasin batters as he hit Szczerba with a pitch in the eighth inning and allowed a lead-off single in the ninth from junior centerfielder Keith Curcio (Sarasota, Fla.). Curcio would later be retired when Vavra hit into a double play.

The Mocs finished the game with just four hits and Withrow had two of them. UMO recorded 10 hits in the game as Jay Gonzalez had three, while Martin added two hits in the win.

Chapman (1-2) threw six innings in the game as he allowed nine hits and five earned runs, while walking one and striking out five. Junior Austin Barnett (Lakeland, Fla.) pitched the final two innings and allowed one hit and no runs, while striking out two.

Kines (4-1) threw a complete game four hit shutout for the Trojans as he struck out 10 and didn't walk a batter.

The two teams were slated to play the second game the doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m. on Saturday. The series will conclude with a single nine inning game on Sunday, March 2.