DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University as a team hit four home runs, and rallied from a 4-1 deficit in game two to sweep a doubleheader with Bethune-Cookman, 5-2 and 7-4 on Saturday, March 17 at the Durham Athletic Park.
 
NCCU (14-6, 4-1 MEAC) as a team have now hit 23 home runs as a team, and are already within the top-five of the most home runs hit in a single season during the modern era of the program.
 
GAME ONE:  The Eagles started the first game with a bang, as Evan Holland (Erial, N.J.) socked a leadoff homer to dead centerfield to set the tone of the game in the bottom of the first inning.  Devin Sweet (Greensboro, N.C.) kept BCU (6-14, 1-4 MEAC) off the board all the way until the seventh inning and struck out six batters through 6.2 innings to keep the Eagles in a strong position all game long.
 
The Eagles took advantage of the quality pitching from Sweet and tacked on some critical insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning on a three-run home run from Zach Michalski (Belews Creek, N.C.) to right-center to move the Eagles ahead 5-0.
 
BCU finally got on the scoreboard on a couple of RBI hits in the seventh frame, but that was all the NCCU pitching staff allowed.  Justice Sampson (Lumberton, N.C.) and Chris Kernen (Greensboro, N.C.) teamed up for the final 2.1 innings, and Kernen locked down his second save of the year to close out game one, 5-2.
 
GAME TWO: BCU flipped the script in game two by scoring the first three runs in the first and second innings.  Kyle Corbin (Orlando, Fla.) hit a two-run homer in the top of the second to give BCU a 3-0 lead but Carter Williams (Brown Summit, N.C.) struck back in the bottom of the frame with a solo homer of his own to make the score 3-1.
 
The Wildcats pulled that run right back in the top of the fourth on another solo home run, this time by Zach Spivey (Ormond Beach, Fla.) to once again give the guests a three-run lead at 4-1.  However, in the bottom of the fourth, that's when the game swung back into the favor of NCCU.
 
NCCU struck for four runs in the bottom of the fourth, starting with a two-RBI single from Dominic Cuevas (Gurnee, Ill.).  The Eagles added two more on an RBI groundout from Michalski, and one more from Timmy Fischvogt (Kernersville, N.C.) that gave NCCU a 5-4 advantage.
 
The final blow came in the fifth inning when Corey Joyce (Lexington, N.C.) lifted a two-run homer opposite way to right-center field to give the Eagles the insurance runs they needed for a 7-4 win.  Sampson polished off the game by pitching in both ends of the doubleheader and notching his second save of the year.
 
Over the doubleheader, Joyce went 4-for-6 with a double and a homer for two RBI, and Michalski was responsible for four RBI on two hits including a double and a home run as well.
 
The Eagles will look for the weekend sweep over BCU on Sunday, March 18 at the Durham Athletic Park at 1:00 p.m.  Admission is free.