DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University and Lafayette combined to score 36 runs over the doubleheader in a split, as the Eagles took game one 9-1, and the Leopards took game two, 16-10 on Saturday, March 2 at the Durham Athletic Park.
GAME 1:
LC (2-6) scored first in the opener as Jake Sniegocki (Fairview, Pa.) plated a run on a single, but that would be it for the guests as
Chris Kernen (Greensboro, N.C.) settled in and held the Leopards off the board for the rest of his outing. Kernen tossed six full innings with just three hits, and racked up 10 strikeouts to be the second Eagle to reach 10 strikeouts in a game this year. It was also the second time in his career that he reached the 10-strikeout mark, after a seven-inning complete game win over Florida A&M on May 5, 2018 where he also fanned 10 batters.
NCCU (5-5) provided plenty of run support for Kernen as the Eagles moved ahead in the bottom of the second inning on an RBI single from
Timmy Fischvogt (Kernersville, N.C.) and a balk to lead 2-1. The Eagles really created separation in the bottom of the fifth inning on a two-RBI single from
Trey Maslin (Franklin, N.C.), and then the home side pushed across four runs on hits from Maslin,
Carter Williams (Brown Summit, N.C.), and
Nick Fajardo (Durham, N.C.) as well as a wild pitch.
GAME 2:
LC again scored first in game two, and marked runs in the first and second innings to take a quick 2-0 lead. The Leopards seemed poised to pull away in the top of the seventh when they scored three to take a 6-0 lead over the Eagles, but the maroon and gray were up to the task.
NCCU loaded the bases four runs on just one hit to trim the lead to just two runs at 6-4, and that would be just the start of a wild sequence of innings. LC responded with four runs of its own in the top of the eight on a pair of two-RBI hits from Mark Glover (Waxhaw, N.C.) and Trey Durrah (Easton, Pa.) to push the lead back to six at 10-4.
The Eagles again posted four runs in the bottom of the eighth by loading the bases, and notched RBIs from Maslin and
Alex Ortiz (Wilkes County, N.C.) to again draw within two at 10-8. After three consecutive half innings with four runs posted, LC broke the trend with six in the top of the ninth with help from a three-run homer from Ethan Stern (Palo Alto, Calif.) to push the Leopards ahead 16-8.
Even then, the game wasn't far enough out of reach from the Eagles put their first two runners on by way of a walk and then a double from Williams, and Maslin pushed in yet another run as he finished with six RBI over the course of the doubleheader.
Vinny Bailey (Raleigh, N.C.) pushed in the final run of the contest, finishing off a three-inning fireworks display that saw a total of 23 runs scored.
The series will be decided on Sunday, March 3 with an 11 a.m. first pitch at the Durham Athletic Park. Admission is free.
