DURHAM, N.C. (NCCUEaglePride.com) – Following a weekend out of action, the North Carolina Central University baseball team has a chance to make it five wins in-a-row as the Rattlers of Florida A&M University make the trek to the Bull City for a three-game set beginning with a doubleheader set for 2:00 p.m. at the Durham Athletic Park.
The Diamond Eagles are 3-2 over the last five games, coming off a twinbill sweep over former CIAA-rival Virginia State. One student-athlete that is really turning some heads over that span is sophomore Nate Smith (Raleigh, N.C.). Since returning on April 3 from his horrific hand injury, Smith is hitting .313 (5-for-16) with two home runs, a triple, four RBIs and six runs scored for the Eagles. Junior Ross Plummer is also putting together a little hot streak for himself, batting .333 (4-for-12) with a double, four RBIs and three runs scored along with four walks.
As team during this span, NCCU is hitting .271 while the defense is looking as solid as it ever has with just five errors over the five game span.
Florida A&M (10-25) enters the weekend 2-4 in MEAC play, but has lost its last three contests including a doubleheader sweep at the hands of Savannah State University. If you are still trying to get a read on the Rattlers they took two out of three from North Carolina A&T after losing seven straight prior to that series back on April 2-3.
The Rattlers are led by outfielder Jarryd Reid who enters the week third in the MEAC with a .374 batting average and No. 1 in triples with five, while left fielder Tobi Adeyemi is ninth batting .338, has racked up seven doubles, three triples, tied for a team-high with two home runs and 17 RBIs on the season. Adeyemi is No. 1 in the conference with 45 hits on the season.
NCCU dropped two of three to FAMU back on March 8-9, but the Eagles got the last laugh in the series with not only its first win of the season, but broke a modern day school record with 22 runs. Senior Blake Murray went 2-for-3 with a grand slam and a double driving in seven RBIs and scoring four runs in the 22-5 win.
The first game of the twinbill is set for nine innings and sophomore Glenn Frye (Lillington, N.C.) will get the call to the hill as he earned the complete game victory for the Eagles allowing just seven hits one earned runs and struck out six in the victory for NCCU.
Junior Sam Fulmer (Raleigh, N.C.) will go in game two of the Tuesday doubleheader and if he comes anywhere close to a repeat performance from his last start on April 3, where the righty went 7.1 innings allowed just three hits, two earned runs and struck out a career-high eight batters. His effort gave the Eagles all the chances they needed to pull out the 6-2 win last Sunday.
First pitch for game one is set for 2:00 p.m. and all Eagle fans are encouraged to tune into Eagle Gameday presented by the Hilton RTP as play-by-play voice of the NCCU Sports Network, Chris Hooks, will bring all the live action of NCCU baseball beginning at 1:45 p.m.
Stay up-to-date with North Carolina Central University Athletics by soaring over to www.NCCUEaglePride.com, the official website of North Carolina Central University Athletics.
