Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Game One Box Score

Game Two Box Score

DURHAM, N.C. – Senior Michael Romano’s (Spotsylvania, Va.) clutch performance on the hill along with a number of big hits were just what North Carolina Central University baseball needed on Saturday afternoon to take game one of the twinbill, but the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman shut down the Eagles in the day’s final game 7-0 to earn the split at the Durham Athletic Park.
 
The first game of the crucial MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) series, Bethune-Cookman struck first in the top of the second inning when Matt Noble creamed a double to right centerfield to lead off the frame.  The Wildcats scored the game’s first run on an error by Luis Diaz (Geneva, N.Y.) that trickled into the outfield allowing Noble to score from second to take the 1-0 lead.
 
With two outs in the bottom of the third inning, Diaz more than made up for the miscue sending a double down the right field line that drove in Robert Hiatt (Wilmington, N.C.) and Akeem Hood (Raleigh, N.C.) who recorded back-to-back hits giving the Eagles a 2-1 lead.
 
That’s when Romano and the NCCU defense took over as the lefty struck out two of the three outs in the third inning and forced the Wildcats to go down in order in the fourth.
 
NCCU plated the third and final run in the bottom of the fifth when junior Troy Marrow’s (Lutherville, Md.) bases loaded single to left field made it 3-1 in favor of the maroon and gray.
 
Romano continued to cruise with the solid Eagle defense behind him as he put the Wildcats down in order in the sixth, and faced only four batters in the seventh to hold on to the 3-1 lead.
 
B-CU plated a run in the eighth, but Romano’s fifth and final strikeout of the day stopped the Wildcats in their tracks.
 
Senior closer Gavin Guarrera (Webster, N.Y.) came on in-relief in the ninth and centerfielder Brandon Turner led off the frame with a double and Josh Johnson followed that up with a single to put runners in scoring position with no outs.  A sacrifice bunt by Eros Modena moved the runners to second and third with one out.  David Lee’s hard grounder was fielded by Marrow who got the runner out at home for out number two, and Guarrera earned his third save of the year by forcing Stokes to fly out to right field to end the game as NCCU took game one 3-2.
 
Romano (1-2) went eight innings allowing on five hits and five strikeouts along with two unearned runs in the win.
 
Game two saw Noble record another double thanks to an unfortunate dropped foul ball which gave him a second chance and drove in Lee to take a 1-0 in the top of the first inning.
 
His two out RBI single in the second inning drove in Johnson to put the Wildcats up 2-0 in the third inning.
 
B-CU game two starter Anthony Stokes quieted the Eagle bats through the first four innings to the tune of allowing only two hits and just one runner in scoring position.
 
Senior righty Glenn Frye (Lillington, N.C.) was pretty good himself retiring nine straight Wildcat batters in the fourth, fifth, and sixth inning.
 
NCCU made its best move in the bottom of the fifth with one out when sophomore Tyler Murphy (Islip, N.Y.) recorded a walk, followed up by a Zach Lee (Wilson, N.C.) single to put runners on first and second.  That’s when Hiatt drilled a low line drive down the first base line and was robbed by B-CU first baseman Eric Sams who made a diving catch and crawled to first to double up the Eagles and get the Wildcats out of the jam.
 
Bethune-Cookman (8-8, 4-1 MEAC) took that momentum in the seventh by played five runs to pull away for the game two win by the final tally of 7-0.
 
In the loss, the Eagles were held to four hits and recorded three errors.  Lee led the maroon and gray with two hits in the contest, but junior Dylan Drayton led with a 3-for-7 (.429) effort at-the-plate in both games.
 
NCCU (9-6, 3-2 MEAC) will look to win the rubber match on Sunday, March 10 at 1:00 p.m. from the Durham Athletic Park.  The pitching matchup between the Eagles and Wildcats features this week’s MEAC Co-Pitchers of the week, Terry McNabb (Davidson, Sask.) and Montana Durapau.
 
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