Box Score
Box Score:  NCCU at Florida A&M

Audio Highlights from the NCCU Sports Network

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – North Carolina Central University recorded a season-high 18 hits and scored every run from the fourth inning on to outslug Florida A&M 15-11, earning the series win over the Rattlers to end the MEAC (Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) slate with a 12-12 mark on Sunday afternoon at Moore-Kittles Field.
 
The 18 hits tie for the most during second year head coach Jim Koerner’s tenure at NCCU as the maroon and gray ripped out 18 hits in an 18-3 win over Florida A&M on March 31, 2012.
 
The fireworks began in the second inning off the bat of FAMU’s Michael Birdsong who drilled a two-run homer to left field to take a 2-0 lead.
 
NCCU was able to tie the game up at 2-2 in the top of the fourth thanks to back-to-back RBI singles by Tyson Simpson (Burgaw, N.C.) and James Dey (Charlotte, N.C.).  The Eagles went on to load the bases again but could not take the lead, leaving three men on base.
 
The Rattlers answered right back with two runs on three hits to take a 4-2 lead over the Eagles, that saw the maroon and gray quickly return the favor in the fifth frame off the bat of Simpson who crushed his first two-run jack of the year off the light pole in left field to knot the game back up at 4 apiece.
 
Florida A&M threw the next punch in the bottom of the fifth by breaking open a 4-4 game in the bottom of the fifth with three more runs that included a two-run RBI double by Sheplak to take a 7-4 lead.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, the resilient maroon and gray came back once again that began on a leadoff walk by Cory Williamson (Greensboro, N.C.).  Senior Akeem Hood (Raleigh, N.C.) followed that up with his first triple of the season to right center field to cut the deficit to two at 7-5.  Junior Dylan Drayton (Raleigh, N.C.) ripped a single up the middle cut the margin to one at 7-6, and Troy Marrow (Lutherville, Md.) tied the game up at 7-7 on a fielder’s choice.
 
Bennie Robinson’s RBI single in the top of the sixth gave Florida A&M the lead right back in the bottom of the sixth and Sheplak’s solo home run in the seventh gave the Rattlers a 9-7 advantage heading into the eighth inning.
 
That’s when the Eagles threw their best punch of the day as Luis Diaz (Geneva, N.Y.) began the frame with a solo bomb to left field which turned into a six-run eighth inning that included doubles by Ronald Thompson (Chadbourn, N.C.) and Dey which was the first of his NCCU career.  The maroon and gray took a 13-9 lead thanks in part to seven hits to completely change the momentum of the game.
FAMU hit into a double play in the bottom of the eighth, and added two runs in the ninth but fell in the contest 15-11.
 
Junior Jacob Russell (Winston-Salem, N.C.) earned his fourth win of the season, while William Carrasco (1-6) allowed seven runs on seven hits  in 2.1 innings to take the loss.
 
Dey led the Eagles going 4-for-6 with a double, two RBI, and two runs scored.  Simpson had yet another productive day at-the-plate going 3-for-4 with a home run, three runs scored and four RBI in the win for the maroon and gray.
 
FAMU (5-40, 4-17 MEAC) was led by Sheplak who went 4-for-5 with a home run, double, two runs scored, and four RBI in the loss. 
 
NCCU (25-23, 12-12 MEAC) ends the conference slate winners of two-in-a-row and clinches the South’s third seed in the 2013 MEAC Baseball Championships to be held May 14-19 at Marty Miller Field in Norfolk, Va. 
 
The Eagles have the week off before they get back to action on the road against the Bulldogs of Gardner-Webb University beginning Saturday, May 4 and ending on Sunday, May 5 at John Henry Ross Stadium in Boiling Springs, N.C.
 
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.