CLINTON, S.C. – Both North Carolina Central University and Presbyterian College were swinging hot bats as the clubs combined for 29 hits, but the Blue Hose defeated the Eagles 15-6 at the PC Baseball Complex on Tuesday, March 15.
 
PC (10-5) plated seven runs in the first inning, sparked on a two-run homer to left from Weston Jackson (Greer, S.C.) and the Blue Hose went on to bat around in that frame.
 
NCCU (9-9) picked up a pair of runs in the top of the third after a wild pitch and an RBI single from John Ortiz (Fayetteville, N.C.) to chip away at the deficit, and added another in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from James Dey (Charlotte, N.C.) to make the score 8-4.
 
Dey finished the day 3-for-3 at the plate with three singles, and was responsible for two of the first four runs scored for the Eagles.  Ortiz also stood out at the plate as he went 3-for-5 with a run batted in.
 
The Blue Hose responded with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, and tacked on four more in the sixth, and carried a 15-4 lead into the seventh inning.
 
NCCU put up two more runs before the game was done in the eighth after Zachary Marszal (Cary, Ill.) drew a bases loaded walk, and Christian Triplett (Wilkesboro, N.C.) knocked in a run with a single to push the final runs across at 15-6.
 
NCCU heads back to the Durham Athletic Park to host Behune-Cookman for a Southern Division series starting at 1:00 PM on Saturday, March 19.  All games of the series will be carried live on the NCCU Sports Network, and live updates can be found on Twitter by following @NCCUAthletics.
 
For more information on NCCU Athletics, visit NCCUEaglePride.com.