Feb. 21, 2010

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DURHAM, N.C. (NCCUEaglePride.com)- The North Carolina Central University baseball team showed its resliency on Sunday afternoon after falling 26-2 to Delaware State on Saturday, coming back in the 2010 Eagle Baseball Classic finale and dropping a 9-2 decision, where the Midshipmen scored eight of its nine runs in three innings at the Durham Athletic Park.

The Eagles made the first move in the bottom of the first inning when Derrell Parker (N. Miami Beach, Fla.) knocked in his first career RBI with a single to left field bringing in senior second baseman, Kurt Wilson (Riverdale, Ga.), putting the Eagles up 1-0 after one inning.

It took Navy until the third inning to really get the offense rolling after scoring two runs in the second, the Midshipmen flexed its muscle with a three-run homer by catcher Steven Soares and followed that up in the fourth frame when rightfielder Michael Speciale hit Navy's second three-run dinger of the day giving the Mids an 8-1 lead after four complete innings.

From that point on, sophomore left hander, Jeremy Tillett, came on strong in relief for NCCU throwing three and two-thirds innings allowing just one run and striking out four Navy batters to keep the Eagles in the ballgame. Freshman Joe Winecoff (Hillsborough, N.C.) also came on for two innings of scoreless relief along with two strikeouts.

NCCU (0-3) was able to get one more run in the bottom on the ninth off the bat of junior outfielder Edward Pegues (Laurinburg, N.C.) who drove in Akeem Hood (Raleigh, N.C.) with a single to right field putting the game at its final score of 9-2.

Highlighting the Eagles once again, Hood finished 2-for-4 on the day to finish the weekend 6-for-13 with a .462 batting average in the first three contests.

Navy wrapped up the weekend 3-0 while Delware State finished up 2-1. Iona got its lone win on Friday finishing the opening weekend at 1-2 while NCCU dropped all three matchups in the first Eagle Baseball Classic.

NCCU will get back to action on Tuesday, Feb. 23 at 4:00 against in-state foe Davidson College at the Durham Athletic Park.

To stay up-to-date with NCCU Athletics, log on to NCCUEaglePride.com, the official website of the NCCU Athletics Department.