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DURHAM, N.C. (www.NCCUEaglePride.com) – After first pitch was delayed an hour and ten minutes, the North Carolina Central University baseball team scored runs in five consecutive innings and pitched out of a few jams to outlast the Trojans of Virginia State University 7-3 to earn its fifth-straight victory in a non-conference matchup that was called after the eighth inning due to inclement weather on Wednesday night at the Durham Athletic Park.
 
The significance of the victory for NCCU ties for the most consecutive wins since March of 2007, when the Eagles won five games from March 24-31 of that season.
 
After a scoreless first inning, the maroon and gray struck first in the bottom of the second inning when sophomore Carter Williamson’s (Roanoke, Va.) fly ball landed just out of the reach of a diving Nicholas Christopher of Virginia State allowing Williamson to advance to second with his sixth double of the year.  Senior Ross Plummer (Winston-Salem, N.C.) drove in his 13 RBI of the year with a single to left centerfield to plate the first run of the day.  The third consecutive hit of the inning put the Eagles up 2-0 on freshman Tyler Murphy’s second career double to left centerfield to give him six RBI on the year.
 
Virginia State tied the ballgame up at 2-2 in the top of the third inning without collecting a single hit as NCCU starting pitcher Gabe Brown (Rocky Mount, N.C.) walked the first two batters of the frame.  After a sacrifice bunt by VSU’s Christopher, Percy Evans knotted the game up with a sacrifice fly to left field.
 
Back-to-back hits in the home-half of the third inning put NCCU in position to score again led by junior Luis Diaz’s (Geneva, N.Y.) fifth double of the season to put runners at second and third with one out.  Sophomore Troy Marrow (Lutherville, Md.) made it 3-2 with an RBI groundout giving his 17 RBI on the season.
 
After a run in the fourth put NCCU up 4-2, a leadoff double by designated hitter Anthony Wilson (Fort Washington, Md.) plus a Trojan throwing error advanced him to third base with no outs.  Wilson later scored on a Marrow sacrifice to make it 5-2 in the fifth inning.
 
With one out in the sixth inning Murphy ripped his second hit of the day and later scored on Tyson Simpson’s (Burgaw, N.C.) RBI single to put the margin at four at 6-2.
 
Virginia State cut the deficit to three at 6-3 in the seventh inning on an RBI single by Joshua Mankins, but the Trojans missed a golden opportunity as VSU left the bases loaded on Russell’s fourth strikeout of the night.
In the top of the eighth inning, the Trojans loaded the bases once again with two outs before junior lefty Gavin Guarrera (Webster, N.Y.) came on in-relief and forced a groundout to end the VSU threat.
 
After a brief rain delay, the Eagles plated the final run in the bottom of the eighth on Simpson’s second RBI single of the evening that scored Murphy for the third time of the night to make it 7-3 in favor of NCCU.  Prior to that, the Eagles put runners at first and third with no outs, but Plummer was thrown out at home plate.
 
Heading into the ninth the rains returned and officials called the contest was called due to inclement weather after eight complete innings.
 
Russell (1-5) earned his first win of the season by going four-and-a-third innings scattering five hits and recording a season-high five strikeouts.  Guarrera earned save No. 4 of the season by throwing just four pitches.
 
At-the-plate Simpson continued his momentum from the weekend going 2-for-3 with three RBI.  Murphy had his second straight multi-hit game by going 2-for-3 with a double, three runs scored, and an RBI.  Wilson ended the night going 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored.
 
With the win, NCCU (9-22 overall, 6-6 MEAC) has now more victories than any of the previous Division I seasons, and the Eagles are three wins away from tying the longest winning streak in the modern era of the program.  The maroon and gray are now 10-2 all-time against the Trojans.
 
Virginia State (16-15 overall, 8-6 CIAA) has dropped its third straight ballgame and left 12 runners stranded including nine over the last four innings.
 
The maroon and gray will get back to non-conference action this weekend as the Eagles will take on the Lancers of Longwood University in a three-game set beginning with doubleheader action this Saturday, March 7 at 1:00 p.m. at the historic Durham Athletic Park.  Game two will take place 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first contest.  The series finale will take place Sunday, March 8 at 1:00 p.m. as well.
 
The NCCU Sports Network will have wall-to-wall coverage of the three-game series between the Eagles and the Lancers.  Play-by-play voice Chris Hooks will go on the air with Eagle Gameday built by Dayeco Construction at 12:45 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday.  Fans can also follow the weekend series on twitter by following @NCCUAthletics and by using the #NCCUBaseball hashtag.
 
Stay up-to-date with North Carolina Central University Athletics by flying over to www.NCCUEaglePride.com, the official website of NCCU Athletics.