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Photo Gallery:  NCCU vs. Florida A&M

DURHAM, N.C. – In the final home MEAC series of the year, the Durham Athletic Park saw two exciting contests as North Carolina Central University used a five-run bottom of the eighth to cap a thrilling comeback to take game one 8-5, while Florida A&M quieted the Eagles in game two to earn the doubleheader split with the 7-3 victory.
 
The fireworks began in the first inning of game one as Florida A&M's Marlon Gibbs drilled a line drive home run to right field with two outs on the board to give the Rattlers a 1-0 lead.
 
NCCU answered with two solo shots to right field of their own as Carlos Ortiz (Cleveland, Ohio) hit his third, while senior Carter Williamson (Roanoke, Va.) crushed his fourth to give the maroon and gray a 2-1 advantage.
 
In the top of the fourth, FAMU knotted it up at 2-2 on a Jeremy Barlow sacrifice fly, while NCCU grabbed a 3-2 advantage in the seventh frame on Williamson's RBI single. 
 
The Rattlers struck back in the top of the eighth inning plating three runs highlighted by Bennie Robinson's sixth round-tripper of the year to right field to give FAMU a 4-3 lead, followed up by an Eagle error that allowed Gibbs to score from second to put Florida A&M up 5-3.
 
That's when the cardiac Eagles awoke as freshman Jared Kehagias (Sanford, N.C.) was hit-by-a pitch, then redshirt junior Eric Kimber (Greensboro, N.C.) drilled his second double of the year to the gap in right center to make it 5-4.  After senior shortstop Zack Lee (Wilson, N.C.) was plunked, Ortiz's RBI single tied that game at 5-5 with two men on base.  Simpson's moon shot to right field gave the Eagles an 8-5 lead, one that would stand in the game one victory.
 
Maroon and gray starter Kyle Shields (Bailey, N.C.) despite not factoring in the decision threw a great ballgame on-the-hill going 7.0 innings surrendering two runs on five hits.
 
Of the 10 hits for NCCU in game one, seven of them came from Ortiz (2), Simpson (2) and Williamson (3).
 
The final game of the day saw FAMU recover quickly and strike first as the Rattler offense scored two runs in the first inning to lead 2-0, while the Eagle bats were silenced by senior righty David Duncan.
 
Three runs for the Rattlers in the third made it 5-0, which ended the day for senior Terry McNabb (Davidson, Sask.)
 
In the bottom of the fifth, NCCU found life with three runs as sophomore Christian Triplett (Wilkesboro, N.C.) drilled his eighth double of the year, followed up by sophomore Kory Wood's first triple as an Eagle, cutting the margin to 5-2.  Lee's RBI groundout made it 5-3 as the momentum seemingly turned to the maroon and gray.
 
FAMU answered with two runs in the sixth inning to make it 7-3, while the Eagles grounded into its second double play of game two as NCCU could not muster up a rally in falling in game two.
 
The Eagles were held to seven hits in the loss, while Duncan earned the win with his 5.0 innings of work where he surrendered three runs on six hits.
 
NCCU (16-26-1, 11-10 MEAC) will look to take the rubber match on Sunday, April 27 at 1:00 p.m. against Florida A&M as seven seniors will be honored prior to first pitch for their contributions to the program.  Fans are asked to arrive early to take in the ceremony. 
 
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