CHARLOTTE (Interstat) — The Queens Royals erupted for eight runs in the bottom of the eighth inning Saturday to defeat the Stetson Hatters 12-2 at Truist Park in an ASUN afternoon contest that turned from a tight pitchers’ duel into a rout.

Queens second baseman Logan Norris led the Royals with a home run and three RBIs, finishing 2-for-5. Norris, who entered the game with only one hit in his previous three outings, broke the game open with a solo homer in the eighth and later added a two-run double in the same inning.

Stetson, which had won the first two games of the weekend series by scores of 5-4 in 14 innings Friday and 2-0 on Thursday, managed only six hits. The Hatters fell to 23-31 overall, while Queens improved to 16-38.

The game was scoreless until the bottom of the first, when Queens first baseman Grayson Childers hit a two-run homer to right-center, scoring Angel Rivera. Karter Wong added an RBI single later in the inning to give the Royals a 3-0 lead. Queens extended the margin to 4-0 in the second on a run-scoring single by Justin Hudson.

Stetson got on the board in the top of the third when catcher Daniel Perez homered to center field. The Hatters cut the deficit to 4-2 in the seventh on a triple by Chris Robinson and an RBI single by Vincent Napolitano.

Queens starter Joseph Ruller worked six innings, allowing two earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts to earn the victory. He was relieved by Kensen Green and Davin Pollard, who each tossed a scoreless inning.

The turning point came in the bottom of the eighth. With Queens holding a 4-2 lead, Norris led off with a home run to right. The Royals then strung together a series of walks, hit batters and hits. Angel Rivera singled, and Luke Lively doubled to put runners at second and third. After a wild pitch brought home Rivera, Queens loaded the bases and pushed across additional runs on a hit-by-pitch, a walk, a single by Jack Grimes and Norris’ two-run double. Rivera capped the inning with an RBI single, making it 12-2.

Stetson reliever Salvador Alvarez faced one batter and allowed an earned run without recording an out. Lathan Haywood had provided 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief for the Hatters, allowing no hits and striking out three, but the eighth-inning collapse erased his strong effort.

For Queens, Norris drove in three runs, Wong added two RBIs, Childers had two RBIs, and Hudson finished 2-for-4 with an RBI. Stetson’s Perez went 1-for-3 with the solo homer.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Stetson 5, Queens 3, and its ELO system gave the Hatters a 77.60 percent probability to win.