CHARLESTON -- The Charleston Squirrels received a good, all-around game from first-year player Tyler Whybark on Tuesday afternoon. Whether it was on the mound or at the plate, Whybark helped lift his fellow Squirrels past the Jackson Senior Babe Ruth baseball team in an 11-1 rout in five innings.

Whybark had pitched earlier in the season in a relief role, but Tuesday was his first start for the Squirrels.

"I was just ready to get out there and give it my all and just hope for the best," he said.

Whybark only allowed one run to cross the plate, however, it was unearned. A fielding error in the fourth inning was the reason for Jackson's lone run.

He pitched all five innings and gave up three hits and one walk. He also struck out six Jackson hitters.

"Whybark threw a real good game," Squirrels head coach Michael Minner said. "He threw strikes today and we made most of the plays. When you put the ball in play, throw strikes and do the little things, good things are going to happen."

Charleston's offense seemed to be feeding off of Whybark's presence on the mound. The Squirrels pounded out nine hits and three of those were from Whybark. He was 3-for-3 with a double and three runs scored.

"Whenever you get a good pitching performance, in general, the bats are more motivated just because the flow of the game is quicker," Minner said. "We go out there and we're not back on our heels and sitting out there forever. We get our three outs and we come in and the offense is ready to go."

Zack Rowland went 2-for-3 with a run scored, Chase McClendon and Garrison Eastman both went 1-for-2 with an RBI, Matt Medlock hit a triple and scored two runs and Jarryd Smith went 1-for-2 with an RBI and two runs scored.

"We are starting to see signs of what we can do," Minner said. "This is nowhere near where we want to be but, we're going to continue to play."

Charleston began the scoring in the first inning when Colin Gilooly scored on a bases-loaded walk to Eric Rowling, and Blake Gaddis scored the first of his three runs on a single up the middle from McClendon.

Two more were put across in the second when Whybark scored on an error from the Jackson infield and another bases-loaded walk to Mark Freed scored Jarryd Smith from third base to make it a 4-0 game.

The Squirrels turned it on again in the third inning when Medlock led off with his triple and was quickly sent home by the next player in the lineup, Whybark, on a single down the left field line. Whybark scored on a sacrifice fly from Gaddis and Smith was scored on a single from Rowland to make it a 7-0 lead over Jackson.

After Jackson put their one run across in the fourth inning, the Squirrels ended the game in the bottom of the fifth by scoring four runs.

Smith scored Medlock on a fielder's choice play, Whybark on an infield error by Jackson on Rowland's at-bat, Freed scored Gaddis on his second bases-loaded walk, and the final blow came from Eastman on a single through the right side of the infield to send Rowland home for the walk-off run of the game.

"We've been playing some tough competition," Minner said. "Jackson's a good ball club but, today we took advantage of some of their walks and miscues. I felt like we hit the ball real well."

The Squirrels will continue to play when they will host a wood bat tournament that will start on Friday.