MURFREESBORO, N.C. – With the tying run in scoring position, closer Joseph Deperno forced the final out to earn the save and give Mansfield a 7-6 win to take a four-game series against defending CIAA Champion Chowan Sunday afternoon.
 
Mansfield fell in the opener 15-4.
 
With the sweep on Saturday and split on Sunday, Mansfield has won six of its last seven games.
 
In game two, neither team could push across a run until Mansfield (7-5) posted three runs in the top of the third. Brady Mengel led-off the inning with a single before scoring on a Taylor Hillson hit that was then muffed by the outfielder. Dio Infante plated Hillson before Tanner Klein reached with a single and scored on an error.
 
Chowan (9-15) evened the score in the bottom of the fourth with a three-run homer.
 
In the next at bat, Ryan Paige reached on a two-out double to left field then Jerry Chavarria and Peter Pena loaded the bases with a pair of walks. A Scott Rockwell single through the left side scored a pair of runs to give the Mounties the lead. Mengel plated another and Rockwell scored on an error to increase the lead to 7-3.
 
Chowan got a run back in each of the next two innings to trail by just two runs.
 
The Hawks led-off the bottom of the seventh with a double, but the next two batters flew out. Rob Williams singled to drive in a run to make it 7-6 before a single put a pair of runners aboard. Deperno forced a ground out to third base to end the game.
 
Tanner Klein earned his second win of the season and struck out a season-high seven batters. Deperno picked up his third save of the year in 1.2 innings of work.
 
Battery mate Chavarria was a brick wall behind the plate for the Mounties, blocking several balls in the dirt.
 
Matt Kaplan was saddled with the loss.
 
In game one, Mansfield took a lead in the top of the second on Rockwell's RBI single to score Paige. The Hawks answered with a run in the third and fourth innings to take a 2-1 lead.
 
A Klein double down the line in the top of the fifth scored Infante to tie the game, but Chowan hung seven runs in the fifth and six in the sixth to take a big lead.
 
Paige drilled a solo shot in the sixth and Cole Tracy drove in Dalton Lewis in the seventh.
 
Bailey Lipscomb threw 6.0 innings with five strikeouts to earn the win on the mound. Edwin Lopez got the loss.
 
Mansfield opens a five-game slate in Florida on Tuesday.