DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University put up five runs in the bottom of the third inning as
Myles Coston (Pittsburg, Calif.) went opposite way for a grand slam, helping the Eagles to a 9-6 win over Longwood on Tuesday, April 16 at the Durham Athletic Park.
NCCU (16-19) was held silent over the first two innings, but
Josh Brammell (Harrison City, Pa.) legged out an infield single in the bottom of the third inning for the Eagles' first hit.
Carter Williams (Brown Summit, N.C.) drove in the first run of the contest on an RBI single, before Coston brought everybody home on the grand slam, marking his first home run of the year to give the Eagles a 5-0 lead.
Longwood (9-27) immediately fought back to push in three runs in the top of the fourth on an RBI double from Nathan Iskowitz (Chesterfield, Va.), and then heads-up base running allowed two runs to score on a sacrifice bunt to close the gap to 5-3.
The Eagles pulled those three runs right back in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run double from
Nick Fajardo (Durham, N.C.) and a ground-rule double from Brammell as he collected his fourth two-base hit in the last three games to give the Eagles an 8-3 advantage.
The Lancers then scored three unanswered runs over the seventh and eighth innings, including a two-run home run from Jacob Mitchell (Mountain Grove, Mo.) to close the gap to just two runs at 8-6 heading to the bottom of the eighth.
Trey Maslin (Franklin, N.C.) helped the Eagles get an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth as he was able to scamper home from second after turning on the jets following an infield single from Brammell to give the home side a three-run cushion leading into the final frame.
Ryan Decker (Fletcher, N.C.) closed the door after tossing the final 1.1 innings with a strikeout and no runners allowed for his fourth save of the year.
Brammell went 3-for-4 in the contest with two RBI and two runs scored, and Fajardo also had two hits and two RBI for the Eagles. Williams was the third Eagle with a multi-hit performance as he had two hits, and Coston finished with a game-high four RBI.
Tom Guglielmello (Land O' Lakes, Fla.) made his first start of the year and reached career highs with four innings thrown and five strikeouts.
Mitchell and Antwaun Tucker (Chase City, Va.) both had two hits for the Lancers.
NCCU returns to MEAC Southern Division Play on Thursday, April 18 against Bethune-Cookman at 6:00 p.m. at the Durham Athletic Park to begin a three-game series. Admission is free.
