April 28, 2010

Game 1 Box Score

Game 2 Box Score

NORFOLK, VA. (NCCUEaglePride.com)- The North Carolina Central University baseball team took out a season full of frustration on Wednesday afternoon at Marty Miller Field as the Eagles found a way to split the doubleheader against Norfolk State University dropping game one 11-4 and shutting down the Spartans for the 5-4 win in game two, ending a 31-game road losing streak at the same place it started a little over a year ago.

The day began with Norfolk State jumping out on top in game one with a 4-0 lead in the first two innings on six hits, while being helped out by three Eagle miscues. In the bottom of the first it was NSU's Brandon Hairston and Sammy Serafine who drove in runs to give the Spartans the early lead, then in the second frame it was third baseman Chris Joyce who drove in the the other two runs with a single to right field.

In the top of the third inning, sophomore Akeem Hood (Raleigh, N.C.) ripped his second triple of the season to left field to start off the frame. Senior Justin Goodson (Stone Mountain, Ga.) drove in Hood for his seventh RBI of the year with an RBI groundout to second base to put the Eagles on the board trailing 4-1.

After a scoreless third by the Spartans, the Eagles got the bats rolling with one out in the fourth on back-to-back singles by senior Kurt Wilson (Riverdale, Ga.) and junior Edward Pegues (Laurinburg, N.C.) which was followed up by a balk, by NSU pitcher Greg Abetz putting runners on second and third for sophomore Ross Plummer (Winston-Salem, N.C.) who stroked his fourth double of the season to cut the Eagle deficit to one at 4-3. Driving in those two runs gave Plummer 11 RBIs on the season and gave NCCU a momentum boost in the contest.

That's when Norfolk State answered the call as the shortstop Ryan Wiggins reached all the way to third base on an Eagle miscue and was driven in by leadoff batter John Rasberry who doubled to left field stretching the margin back out to two at 5-3.

NCCU battled right back adding another run on the board when freshman Nate Smith (Raleigh, N.C.) singled to begin the top of the fifth inning. After Derrell Parker (North Miami Beach, Fla.) was robbed by NSU's Hairston at first base, sophomore Anthony Wilson (Fort Washington, Md,) ripped a single to left field to bring the Diamond Eagles back within one at 5-4 as Smith came in to score from second base.

The Spartans took over from there, while the Eagles allowed its seven errors to finally get the best of them as NSU took away any chance for an NCCU win by scoring five runs on four hits along with two more errors to put the Eagles behind 10-4 after five innings.

Norfolk State added one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning to pull away for the game one win at 11-4.

Senior lefty Joseph Cobb (Raleigh, N.C.) pitched a solid ballgame considering the amount of errors the Eagles committed. Cobb (0-7) took the loss going 4.2 innings while striking out five batters.

Game two was a totally different story for NCCU. With the Diamond Eagles throwing the first punch putting a run on the board in the top of the first thanks to a single by Goodson and Nate Smith being hit by a pitch. The first run scored when NSU's Ryan Armstrong's errant throw trickled out to left field when the Eagles tried a double steal which scored Goodson and advanced Smith to third base.

With NCCU leading 1-0, Norfolk State grabbed the lead right back with two runs in the bottom of the first inning when Joyce creamed a double down the left field line scoring Rasberry and Hairston drove in Joyce on an RBI groundout putting NSU up 2-1 after one complete inning.

The score stayed that way until the fourth inning when the Eagles exploded for four runs on three hits and one Spartan error. It all began on the NSU miscue as second baseman Juan Herrera dropped an infield fly allowing Anthony Wilson to reach base and that rally was underway. Wilson reached second base on a balk by Spartan hurler Kyle Davis. Kurt Wilson was hit by a pitch and later advanced on a sacrifce bunt by Pegues. With runners at second and third and one out, Plummer struck again with a two-run single to right center putting NCCU up 3-2. With one of the runs being unearned, Plummer was giving just one RBI on the play, he now has 12 on the year. After Etienne Farquharson (Inaqua, Bahamas) grounded out, Hood singled to left field giving the Eagles a 4-2 advantage with two outs. Hood now has 10 RBIs on the year. The ensuing batter, Goodson, drove in his eighth RBI of the year following Hood's eighth stolen base of the season as the Diamond Eagles grabbed on to a 5-2 lead.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, NCCU showed its true character as a TiQuan Griffin single and Ryan Wiggins single up the middle cut the lead to 5-3, the Spartans has runners at the corners with two outs and Citero forced the dangerous Joyce to fly out to center field keeping the Eagles ahead after four complete.

After Citero retired the Spartans in order in the fifth inning, Griffin led off the bottom of the sixth with another single and would be driven in by Sammy Serafine to bring the game even closer at 5-4 with no outs. Catcher Chris Warren who was inserted late in game two after starting game one flew out to Pegues in left field and Serafine advanced to third base with one out on the board. Freshman Glenn Frye (Lillington, N.C.) was placed in the tough situation with a runner at third and one out. Frye shut down any chance for NSU to tie the ballgame by forcing a line out to second base by Wiggins and Joyce flew out to Goodson at second as well keeping NCCU in front with one inning to go.

After a scoreless top of the seventh, Frye came out in the final inning with the pressure on and the middle of the vaunted Norfolk State lineup due up to the plate. Corey Lynch, one of the top hitters in the MEAC, continued his frustrating day at the plate by grounding out to Kurt Wilson at third base for out number one. Hairston who hit a huge home run back on March 10 in the 13-run inning, struck out swinging but the ball got underneath Farquharson and Hairston was able to reach first base with one out. Frye's pick off attempt of Hairston got away from Smith at first base and as the ball trickled into the outfield, Smith was able to pick up the errant throw and nail Hairston at third base with a frozen rope throw over to Kurt Wilson sending the Eagle dugout into an exuberant celebration as the runner was cutoff and there was two outs on the board.

The final out came at the hands of Kurt Wilson as the senior fielded James Taylor's bunt cleanly and threw him out at first ending an eight-game losing streak for NCCU in the 5-4 win.

Jeff Citero (1-5) threw yet another gutsy performance for the Diamond Eagles earning his first victory of the year, while Frye in his 1.2 inning relief effort struck out one Spartan batter and amassed his first collegiate save.

NCCU (2-37) broke a year-long 31-game road losing streak that began on April 15, 2009 at Marty Miller Field in a doubleheader sweep at the hands of NSU. The Diamond Eagles are now 1-8 against Norfolk State since bringing the baseball program back in 2006.

This was truly a team effort for the Eagles in earning the split but a few Eagles shined bright at the plate for NCCU in both contests. Hood (4-for-8 a triple, a run, a stolen base and an RBI), Smith (3-for-6, a run scored and a stolen base), and Plummer (2-for-4 a double, two walks, and three RBIs) all batted .500 at the plate in the doubleheader while Goodson (3-for-8 a run and two RBIs) had a noteworthy day as well.

The Diamond Eagles get back to action with a four game home-and-home weekend series against in-state Campbell University beginning Friday afternoon on April 30 with a doubleheader set to begin at 3:00 p.m. at Taylor Field. The series then shifts to the Bull City for a "Senior Day" doubleheader on Saturday, May 1 with first pitch set for 2:00.

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