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Game 2 Final Box Score (HTML)


Game 3 Final Box Score (HTML)


Photo Gallery:  Senior Day Ceremony (May 6, 2012)


DURHAM, N.C. – Mother Nature forced the North Carolina Central University baseball team to play two contests on Senior Day and the Eagles sent all three veterans off in style by gutting out a 4-2 win in the resumed contest from Saturday and erased a 3-1 deficit to finish off the sweep with a 4-3 victory on Sunday afternoon against Florida A&M University at the Durham Athletic Park.
 
Etienne Farquharson (Inagua, Bahamas), Sam Fulmer (Raleigh, N.C.), and Ross Plummer (Winston-Salem, N.C.) were honored with a Senior Day ceremony prior to first pitch as they competed in front of the Eagle faithful for the final time at home.
 
Game two of the series was a resumption of a contest that began on Saturday afternoon and the Eagles struck first in the bottom of the third inning of a scoreless contest as sophomore Alex Moore (Greensboro, N.C.) reached base on a one out walk.  Moore moved into scoring position by stealing second base and sophomore Dylan Drayton (Raleigh, N.C.) drove in the first run with a single to right centerfield putting NCCU up 1-0.  Luis Diaz (Geneva, N.Y.) followed that up with a two-out RBI single through the right side giving the Eagles a 2-0 cushion.
 
Florida A&M plated a run in the fourth and fifth inning to tie the game at 2-2, but the maroon and gray answered right back.  Drayton reached to begin bottom of the fifth on a Rattler error later scoring on Carter Williamson’s (Roanoke, Va.) single through the right side to give the sophomore 41 RBI on the season, adding to the new single season record, placing NCCU ahead 3-2.  The final run of the frame came on a Plummer flyball that was dropped by FAMU’s Aaron Smith to give the Eagles the 4-2 advantage after five complete.
 
The Rattlers could not muster any offense in the last two innings as Glenn Frye (Lillington, N.C.) earned his third win of the season and junior lefty Gavin Guarerra (Webster, N.Y.) earned the save by throwing one pitch and the Eagles took game two of the series 4-2.  Frye went six-and-two thirds innings surrendering only five hits and two runs with three walks and two strikeouts to give him 140 in his career.
 
Williamson was the lone Eagle who recorded multiple hits going 2-for-3 with an RBI in the win.
 
Despite the loss, FAMU’s Heath Blackburn put on a note worthy pitching performance going six innings allowing five hits with only two earned runs with three walks and two strikeouts.
 
The final game of the series was another low scoring affair that saw NCCU hold a 1-0 lead for more than half the game. 
 
In the bottom of the first inning sophomore Tyson Simpson (Burgaw, N.C.) drilled his eighth double of the year to rev the Eagle offensive attack in gear.  With two outs sophomore Troy Marrow (Lutherville, Md.) singled through the right side to give NCCU the 1-0 advantage and drive in RBI No. 36 on the year.
 
The score stayed that way due to stellar NCCU defense and junior Michael Romano’s (Spotsylvania, Va.) solid performance on the hill, retiring 13 consecutive batters through the fifth inning.  At one point in the contest, Romano had a two-hit shutout.
 
With a 1-0 deficit, Florida A&M tried to rally the troops one last time in the sixth inning as the Rattlers Jared Walker began the frame with a bunt single.  After a Khiry Hernandez sacrifice bunt to put Walker in scoring position, Ty Lawson laid down another bunt and successfully made it to first base to place runners at the corners with one out.  Lawson moved to second on a passed ball and Michael Birdsong cleared the bases with a bloop single that drove in two runs and gave FAMU the 2-1 lead.  Romano minimized the damage by striking out Jaylin Earl to end the inning.
 
In the seventh, Florida A&M added another run to make it 3-1 on the heels of a lead off double by Daniel Lee and later scored on a single up the middle by Hernandez putting the Rattlers up 3-1.  FAMU could have done much more damage if it weren’t for the 1-6-3 double play turned by Romano and Drayton to slow down the Rattler attack.
 
After the seventh inning stretch the Eagles made their move as designated hitter Anthony Wilson (Fort Washington, Md.) was plunked by a pitch with one out.  Drayton followed that up with a hard liner to the right side to put runners on with one out.  After a Simpson walk to load the bases, Diaz struck out and Marrow tied the game up a 3-3 with an infield single as he beat out a throw to first base and was flipped over FAMU first baseman Justin Abney who left the game due to injury.  Marrow was not hurt and the momentum at that point changed hands to the team clad in maroon and gray.
 
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Plummer in his final at-bat in from of the home faithful reached on a walk and was moved into scoring position by fellow senior Farquharson.  After a wild pitch moved Plummer to third base, freshman Tyler Murphy (Islip, N.Y.) drove in the game-winning run with a single to right field to give the freshman 10 RBI on the year.
 
Guarerra came on in-relief in the ninth inning and finished off the Rattlers to earn the series sweep as NCCU held on for the 4-3 win, earning its fourth straight win to end the conference regular season slate.
 
The Eagles went unbeaten against Florida A&M this season going 6-0.  FAMU still leads the all-time series 9-7.
 
Romano earned the win despite giving up 10 hits through the last four innings as surrendered three earned runs with three strikeouts.  FAMU’s (7-41, 5-16 MEAC) David Duncan pitched another fine ballgame scattering seven hits in the loss with three earned runs allowed and two strikeouts.
 
Only two Eagles recorded multiple hits in the series finale as Simpson went 2-for-3 with two doubles to give him nine on the year, and Marrow was 2-for-3 with three RBI to give him 38. 
 
Throughout the weekend, Marrow was hit-by-a-pitch on five different occasions.
 
The sweep for NCCU (17-30, 13-10 MEAC) puts the Eagles in prime position to finish in second place in the MEAC’s Southern Division.  With Savannah State’s series-salvaging win over North Carolina A&T on Sunday afternoon the Tigers are currently 10-11 in the league.  If SSU loses one or more contests next weekend against Bethune-Cookman, the maroon and gray will clinch the second seed from the South in the 2012 MEAC Tournament which will take place May 16-20 at Marty Miller Field in Norfolk, Va.
 
The Eagles will end the regular season on Wednesday, May 9 at 6:00 p.m. at Taylor Field as the maroon and gray will battle the Campbell Camels with the final non-conference matchup of the year in preparation for postseason play.
 
To discuss the significance of NCCU’s wins on Sunday, prior to head coach Jim Koerner taking over, the program recorded 16 wins over the last three seasons.  The Eagles have now eclipsed that mark in year one with Koerner at the helm.
 
Stay up-to-date with North Carolina Central University Athletics by flying over to www.NCCUEaglePride.com, the official website of NCCU Athletics.