Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 DURHAM, N.C. – Fans were treated to an offensive showcase by North Carolina Central University in a doubleheader sweep of Virginia State University on Wednesday night as the Eagles took game one 17-15 with a season-high 17 hits and took game two 12-6 behind another solid display at-the plate in nonconference action at the Durham Athletic Park.
In two games, both teams combined for 50 runs and 57 hits as the Eagles dug deep to outlast the Trojans.
Game one was a rollercoaster affair for the maroon and gray faithful as a controversial call at third base turned a 3-1 game into a 7-1 Trojan advantage in the second inning. With the bases loaded third baseman Joshua Markins hit a routine grounder to Tyson Simpson (Burgaw, N.C.) who tagged the runner heading to third for the final out of the frame, but the third base umpire somehow ruled that Simpson neither applied the tag and the runner stayed inside the base path avoiding the tag. That's when Tyler Coleman cranked a grand slam to right center field to take a 7-1 lead.
The cardiac Eagles did not go away despite the 9-1 deficit to VSU heading into the bottom of the third inning. Tyler Murphy's (Islip, N.Y.) RBI single along with Carlos Ortiz's two-RBI single in the next at-bat cut the deficit to 9-4 after three complete.
In the fourth inning, NCCU's Andrew Wilson (Pilot Mountain, N.C.) came in the game on-the-hill and quieted the Trojan bats while the Eagle offense got revved up with three more runs as Simpson drilled a double down the left field line plating two runs to make it 9-7.
Fast forwarding to the sixth inning, Christian Triplett (Wilkesboro, N.C.) hit a towering shot to left field that put the Eagles up 10-9 sending the crowd into a frenzy.
It all seemingly fell apart in the top of the seventh when Virginia State plated six runs to take a 15-10 lead, but the cardiac Eagles would not die.
After a Simpson RBI single to make it 15-11 in the bottom of the seventh, NCCU scored the game's final six runs in the bottom of the eighth as freshman Jared Kehagias (Sanford, N.C.) recorded his first career triple down the left field line to drive in a run, while Ortiz also doubled down the left field line to plate two runs prior to that. The maroon and gray went on to win game one 17-15, ending a four-game losing skid.
The second game was just as exciting as the Eagles took a 6-0 lead after the first two innings, but errors allowed Virginia State to knot the game up at 6-6 after three complete.
That's when Triplett awoke the Eagle faithful in attendance as he crushed his first career grand slam to left field, putting NCCU back up 10-6.
Freshman backstop Conrad Kovalcik (Detriot, Mich.) drove in the final two runs of the game with a two RBI single to right field clinching the twinbill sweep with a 12-6 final tally.
As a team, the maroon and gray batted 16-for-26 (.615) at-the-plate with two outs and drove in 17 two-out RBI in two games. Both teams combined to leave 37 runners on base.
Simpson batted 6-for-7 (.857) with six runs scored three doubles and four RBI to lead the squad, but Triplett went 4-for-8 with three runs scored a double, two home runs and nine RBI.
Four Eagles recorded four hits our more in the doubleheader sweep as Carter Williamson (6-for-8; .750 BA) recorded a double, scored five runs and three RBI, and Kehagias (5-for-9; .556 BA) scored five runs with five hits, his first career triple, and three RBI.
Virginia State (17-13) Tyler Coleman led the Trojans with six RBI in two games, while David Markins recorded the most hits on the day going 4-for-9 (.444 BA) with an RBI.
NCCU (11-17-1, 6-5 MEAC) gets back into a huge conference series with North Carolina A&T beginning on Saturday, April 5 with doubleheader action set for 1:00 p.m. at the Durham Athletic Park.
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