DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University was locked in at the plate on its way to a doubleheader sweep of Florida A&M, 8-0 and 13-6 at the Durham Athletic Park on Saturday, April 1.  The Eagles have now won their last five MEAC Southern Division contests.
 
GAME ONE:
NCCU (15-13, 7-4 MEAC) had the bats going in the first game of the doubleheader with nine total hits, and a hit in all eight frames the Eagles were at the plate.  The Eagles also got the leadoff man aboard in the first seven innings by six hits and a walk.
 
The Eagles got their first run on the board in the bottom of the second on a single from Jake Raby (Granite Falls, N.C.).  Raby ended the first game by being involved in four of the eight runs scored, going 2-for-3 with a double, three RBI and a run scored.
 
The Eagles saved its biggest innings for last with three runs in the seventh and two in the eighth.  Conrad Kovalcik (Detroit, Mich.) pushed across a run on a single in the seventh, and Dominic Cuevas (Gurnee, Ill.) supplied a run on a sacrifice fly as well.  Kovalcik also drove in a run in the eighth on a single after a wild pitch.
 
FAMU (15-12, 5-3 MEAC) threatened to score multiple times during the game, but Devin Sweet (Greensboro, N.C.) held the Rattlers in check, pitching six complete innings with just three hits and five strikeouts on the front end of the combined shutout.  NCCU's pitching staff totaled seven strikeouts, with two more coming from Jake McCort (Thornton, Colo.) in relief.
 
GAME TWO:
FAMU took the lead first in the second game on a groundout from Kaycee Reese (Tallahassee, Fla.) who had two RBI in the contest, but the Eagles captured the lead quickly in the bottom of the inning.
 
NCCU struck for five runs in the bottom of the first to grab a lead that it wouldn't give up with back-to-back two-RBI singles from Carter Williams (Brown Summit, N.C.) and Evan Holland (Erial, N.J.).
 
The Rattlers rallied to make the game close in the top of the fourth with a pair of runs on a single from Marcus Judd (Davenport, Fla.) to close the gap to a 6-4 lead for the Eagles, but NCCU expanded the lead once again with a four-run frame.
 
Only one of those four runs came on a credited RBI, a sacrifice fly from Zach Michalski (Belews Creek, N.C.).  The Eagles picked up one run on a wild pitch, and the other two came on a fielding error where the runners were on the move before the pitch with two outs in the inning.
 
The Eagles had one more big inning in the bottom of the sixth with three runs coming on an RBI single from Andrew Valichka, and a two-RBI double from Williams down the left field line.
 
Raby went 3-for-3 with another two runs scored and an RBI in game two, and Williams also had three hits going 3-for-5 with two runs and three RBI.
 
The Eagles will look for the weekend sweep on Sunday, April 2 at 1:00 p.m. at the Durham Athletic Park, and admission is free.