SAVANNAH, Ga. – North Carolina Central University exploded for 15 runs in game one including two RBI from Zach Michalski (Belews Creek, N.C.) to pick up his 46th RBI of the year, breaking the NCCU modern-era single-season record as the Eagles took a doubleheader from Savannah State, 15-5 (8 innings) and 3-2 on Saturday, April 28 at Tiger Field.
 
Michalski passed the mark of 44 runs batted in set by Carter Williamson during the 2012 campaign.
 
GAME ONE:  NCCU (25-21, 9-11 MEAC) set the tone early by scoring three runs in the first frame with help from a two-RBI double from Corey Joyce (Lexington, N.C.).  Joyce later lifted a home run down the left field line in the third inning to move the Eagles ahead, 4-0.
 
The middle innings of the first game lit up the scoreboard as the Eagles and SSU (5-28, 2-15) combined for 11 runs scored from the third inning to the sixth.
 
The Tigers had their biggest inning of the game in the bottom of the fourth as Juan Lugo (Hialeah, Fla.) led off the inning with a triple.  He was the first runner to touch home that inning after an RBI single, and then a two-run home run from Garret Bogart (Inverness, Fla.) brought SSU within two runs, with the score standing at 6-4.
 
NCCU was able to widen the gap again as it scored in each frame except for the second.  Dominic Cuevas (Gurnee, Ill.) hit his first home run of the year on a solo blast in the fifth inning, the second homer of the game for the Eagles.  Michalski picked up a hit in three consecutive at-bats in three consecutive innings from the fifth to the seventh with a pair of doubles and drove in RBIs on the second and third hits to break the RBI record.
 
Joyce ended the first game a triple-shy of the cycle and drove in a season-high five RBI.
 
GAME TWO: The second appeared it was going to follow the suit of the first as the Eagles again scored three runs in the first inning.  Carter Williams (Brown Summit, N.C.) stard the second game the same way as the first – with a leadoff walk – and then stole second and third on a double-steal with Joyce before touching home on a two-RBI single from Andrew Valichka (Pedricktown, N.J.).  Cuevas tacked on one more run in the frame on an RBI single, his third RBI of the doubleheader.
 
Mason Calloway (Covington, Ga.) matched pace with Williams for the Tigers as he drew a leadoff walk and then stole second before being driven in by Bryce Luken (East Moline, Ill.).  The game turned into a pitchers' duel from that point as Chris Kernen (Greensboro, N.C.) set down seven consecutive batters at one point, and Alex Wright (Stoutsville, Ohio) struck out nine as he went all seven innings in a complete game. 
 
SSU scored a run in the bottom of the fifth as Lugo led with a double before scoring on a groundout from Calloway to draw the score to 3-2.  From there, Jonathan Figueroa (Chicago, Ill.) and Justice Sampson (Lumberton, N.C.) closed things out for the Eagles as Sampson got his league-leading sixth save of the year.
 
NCCU will go for the sweep on Sunday, April 29 at 1:00 p.m. before returning to Durham to close the season with a five-game home stand at the Durham Athletic Park.