Box Score
Game One Box Score
CONYERS, GA. (NCCUEaglePride.com) - With a 4-3 lead and a runner on third in the top of the ninth, Texas Southern University forced an error on North Carolina Central University which tied the ballgame at 4 and gave the Tigers just enough momentum to pull out a 7-4 come from behind win over the Eagles in 10 innings in game one of the MEAC/SWAC showdown at the Marquis Grissom Field of Dreams in Conyers, Ga.
In the first game of the neutral site series the Eagles took the first lead of the day in the bottom of the first inning when leadoff hit Ross Plummer started the frame off with a single to left field and was brought around to score when designated hitter Derrell Parker (North Miami Beach, Fla.) ripped a single up the middle driving in RBI No. 7 of the year and put NCCU up 1-0. Parker ended up getting caught in a run-dowin which senior Edward Pegues (Laurinburg, N.C.) who was at third base did not touch home in time to get the run thus leaving a few feet from home plate, a base running blunder that would be the theme of the night.
Prior to the fourth inning, sophomore Glenn Frye (Lillington, N.C.) kept TSU scoreless with three strikeouts but it took one mistake that cleanup hitter Terrell Jones crushed to right center field for his second homer of the season which tied the game at 1.
The Diamond Eagles despite the mistakes on the base path seemed to be in control especially after the sixth inning by plating two runs and taking a 3-1 lead on three clutch hits including freshman Troy Marrow’s (Lutherville, Md.) ninth double of the season that drove in Parker giving him 16 RBIs on the year. Junior Etienne Farquharson (Inagua, Bahamas) brought in the second run of the frame with an RBI single to give NCCU the two-run advantage.
Texas Southern added a run in the seventh on an error by Marrow to cut the margin to 3-2, which NCCU answered with a run of its own on an error by Justin Cox to drive in Plummer that put the Eagles ahead 4-2.
The tension mounted in the eighth inning when TSU scored a run to cut the deficit to one at 4-3, but the solid Eagle defense and kept the damage at a minimum and held onto that lead thanks to a groundout with runners in scoring position.
In the bottom of the eighth, senior first baseman Blake Murray (Wendell, N.C.) led off the frame with a single and was moved into scoring position thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Farquharson, but was left stranded after Tyson Simpson, Jr. struck out and Dylan Drayton (Raleigh, N.C.) grounded out as the Tigers kept the insurance run off the board.
The top of the ninth saw TSU get the run it needed mostly because of a leadoff bunt single by one of the top hitters in the SWAC (Southwestern Athletic Conference) Anthony Flenoy. Catcher Shane Leftly singled through the right side to drive in Flenoy and knotted the game at 4 apiece.
NCCU (6-38) had nothing left in the tank and the Tigers took full advantage of it scoring three runs in the top of the tenth on three hits and pulled away for the 7-4 win.
Frye got a no-decision in the contest but his performance was once again magical on the hill going eight-and-two-thirds innings and allowed only three earned runs and struck out five batters to finish the season with 67 strikeouts, just four shy of the modern day single season record set by Alex Weathersby in the 2007 season.
Four players recorded at least two hits (Plummer, Marrow, Parker, and Farquharson) but leaving 10 runners on base makes the loss sting that much more.
The Diamond Eagles don’t have much time to bask on the loss with twinbill action awating the two teams at 12:00 p.m. on Friday, April 29 at the Marquis Grissom Field of Dreams.
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