April 7, 2010

DURHAM, N.C. (NCCUEaglePride.com)- The North Carolina Central University baseball team gets back on the road to face its second straight opponent from the commonwealth of Virginia as the Eagles take on the Lancers of Longwood University on Thursday afternoon at Lancer Stadium with a 2:30 first pitch.

This will be the fifth meeting since 2007, NCCU's first season at the Division I level, with Longwood taking the first four meetings. Last season, Longwood swept the Eagles in doubleheader action 15-1 and 6-5. Game one of that contest back on April 9 saw the Lancers score 14 runs in the first three innings to cruise to the 15-1 win, but in the second contest NCCU had a 5-2 lead only to lose late in the ballgame in a 6-5 heartbreaking loss.

These two teams have had two contests that were scheduled as home games for NCCU postponed due to inclement weather over the past two seasons. The most recent postponement took place on March 2 of this year, but last season a March 5, 2009 matchup was cancelled due to snow in the area.

Longwood (13-13) is 4-3 in its last seven ballgames including a 14-1 loss to No. 29 VMI on Tuesday, April 6 in Lexington, Va. The Lancers are led by senior third baseman Phil Cerreto who leads the team with a .426 batting average and 38 RBIs on the season, another team-high. Cerreto sits tied for second on the roster with four home runs on the season.

After the Eagles (0-28) take on the Lancers they can look ahead to a revenge series of sorts when the Tigers of Savannah State University come to the Bull City for a weekend three-game tilt beginning with doubleheader action Saturday April 10 at 1:00 p.m. Game two is tentatively set for 3:00 p.m. and Sunday's series finale is set for 1:00 p.m. as well. The Tigers swept NCCU last weekend down in Georgia.

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