GREENVILLE (Interstat) — Cannon Lee pitched 4 1/3 hitless innings of relief with eight strikeouts as UNC Greensboro held off East Tennessee State 6-5 on Wednesday afternoon at Fluor Field at the West End.

The Spartans improved to 23-31 overall and 10-16 in the Southern Conference. The Buccaneers fell to 30-23 and 14-10.

UNC Greensboro erupted for six runs in the first two innings, but East Tennessee State answered with four home runs in the bottom of the second to pull within 6-4. The Buccaneers added a run in the fifth, but Lee entered with two outs and a runner on base and retired 13 of the 14 batters he faced over the remainder of the game.

Lee, who had thrown 4 1/3 hitless innings in a loss at Western Carolina on May 15 and 4 1/3 hitless frames at Virginia Tech on May 10, struck out the side in the sixth and seventh innings. He allowed no hits, no walks and struck out eight.

Luke Holland put the Spartans ahead in the top of the first with a solo home run to right center. Jake Barbour singled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Holland in the second, and Barbour added an RBI single in the fifth after Luke Jenkins doubled home a run.

Barbour finished 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Holland was 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and two runs. Jenkins went 2-for-5 with an RBI.

East Tennessee State’s rally in the second began with a two-run homer by Mason Ault. Ault, the catcher, went 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs. Justin Little followed with a solo shot, and Nate Conner hit a solo homer later in the inning. Conner finished 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and an RBI.

The Buccaneers cut the deficit to 6-5 in the fifth when Conner doubled, advanced on a single by Hunter Ferguson and scored on a sacrifice fly by Joey Palmese.

UNC Greensboro added an unearned run in the eighth. Holland reached on a throwing error by third baseman Isaac Guanzon, moved to second on a hit batter and scored on a single by Jake Budzik.

East Tennessee State threatened in the bottom of the ninth when Conner singled and advanced to third on a fielding error by center fielder Brayden Truitt. But Lee struck out Ferguson and Tristan Curless, and Palmese fouled out to first base.

Stratton Scott pitched three innings of relief for the Buccaneers, allowing two hits and no runs with one strikeout. Starter Cooper Jones allowed nine hits and three earned runs in 4 2/3 innings, striking out five. Noah Chapman started for UNC Greensboro and allowed four runs on three hits in 4 2/3 innings, striking out three.

The game was the first meeting between the teams since East Tennessee State won two of three at UNC Greensboro in March. The Buccaneers had taken the previous three games in the series, including a 15-8 win on March 22.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of UNC Greensboro 7, East Tennessee State 5. Interstat’s ELO system had projected East Tennessee State with a 60.90 percent probability to win.