DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University baseball program will wrap-up its seven game road swing this weekend in what may be one of the most critical series in the program’s modern history as the Eagles take on Bethune-Cookman University in a three-game set beginning on Saturday, April 13 at 1:00 p.m. and ending on Sunday, April 14, 1:00 p.m. at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in Daytona Beach, Fla.
 
NCCU (21-15, 9-6 MEAC) enters the weekend just a game behind the Wildcats in the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) Southern Division after dropping two-of-three against North Carolina A&T last weekend.
 
Bethune-Cookman (20-17, 10-5 MEAC) has won six-in-a-row entering the series red-hot after a 5-3 road victory over in-state foe Jacksonville on April 9.  Right fielder David Lee led the charge with three RBIs in the win for the Wildcats,
 
The Eagles took game one of the previous series back on March 9-10 by the score of 3-2 only to drop the next two tightly contest ballgames to the Wildcats.  Throughout the entire three-game set, NCCU left 17 runners on base and hit .175 as a team, but the maroon and gray surrendered only seven earned runs in the series.
 
Junior righty Terry McNabb (Davidson, Sask.) will toe the rubber for the Eagles in game one of the series.  McNabb (4-3, 3.44 ERA) is coming off the clutch 8.2 inning performance on Sunday in the final game against the Aggies as he allowed only six hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts in the win.  B-CU will send righty Scott Garner (3-4, 5.33 ERA) to the hill.  Garner’s last outing saw him throw a complete game six-hitter as the Wildcats took down Florida A&M 4-1.  The junior has logged 52.1 innings and recorded 37 strikeouts compared to 18 walks.
 
In the second game on Saturday, which is slated for seven innings per MEAC rule, senior righty Glenn Frye (Lillington, N.C.) will make start No. 41 at NCCU with a little something to prove after lasting only 4.2 innings last weekend against A&T.  Frye (3-3, 4.62 ERA) has 186 career strikeouts putting him 14 away from becoming the first modern era student-athlete to reach that achievement.
 
Lefty Ali Simpson (3-4, 5.77 ERA) will take the hill for Jason Beverlin’s squad.  Simpson took the loss in his last outing against the Eagles going 6.0 innings and allowing three earned runs on five hits.  He went 7.0 innings allowing just three hits with five strikeouts in 4-0 win over FAMU to finish off the weekend sweep,
 
The final contest of the weekend will see another Eagle hurler looking to regain early season form as Michael Romano (Spotsylvania, Va.) will look for a little redemption after lasting 2.2 innings in the 11-8 loss to A&T in game one on Saturday.  Romano (2-5, 5.43 ERA) was masterful in game one against B-CU on March 9, earning MEAC Pitcher of the Week honors when he threw 8.0 innings, scattering five hits with five strikeouts and no earned runs allowed.
 
Montana Durapau (5-3, 4.07 ERA) will take the hill for the Wildcats in Sunday’s series final as the right handed junior earned a complete game four-hit victory over the Eagles on March 10 where he gave up just two runs and struck out four batters.
 
B-CU has four student-athletes with 20 RBIs or more led by Matt Noble’s 25.  Noble is second in the MEAC with 12 doubles on the year.  His teammate Anthony Stokes is tied for second with four home runs on the season.
 
NCCU is led by Carter Williamson’s (Roanoke, Va.) 22 RBI, while senior Luis Diaz (Geneva, N.Y. is just behind him with 21 RBI batting .351 on the year, sitting fourth in the MEAC in that category.
 
The maroon and gray are 2-6 since re-joining the MEAC against Bethune-Cookman with all the wins coming at the DAP for the Eagles.
 
The NCCU Sports Network will have full coverage of the MEAC series beginning with the Champps Pregame Show at 12:45 p.m. as play-by-play voice Chris Hooks will call the live action from Jackie Robinson Ballpark.  Fans are encouraged to interact with Hooks by following @NCCUAthletics on Twitter, by using the hashtag #NCCUBaseball, and by sending him an e-mail to either nccusn@NCCU.edu or whooks@NCCU.edu.
 
For more information about NCCU athletics, visit www.NCCUEaglePride.com or download the NCCU Sports Network app available in the App Store, Google Play and Amazon.