DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University scored seven runs in the last three innings and plated four in the bottom of the eighth to defeat Savannah State 12-2 in a shortened game on Sunday, April 28 at the Durham Athletic Park.
NCCU (19-24, 10-10 MEAC) scored the first six runs of the game unanswered, starting with a sacrifice fly from
Carter Williams (Brown Summit, N.C.) in the bottom of the first, and a two-run blast from
Myles Coston (Pittsburg, Calif.) in the bottom of the second following a triple from
Vinny Bailey (Raleigh, N.C.) to take a 3-0 lead.
Williams supplied another RBI on a single in the bottom of the fourth which wrapped up a run of eight runs driven in in his last seven plate appearances, going back to the second game of the series when he went 5-for-5 with six RBI. The Eagles took advantage of an error later in that same inning, and then
Trey Maslin (Franklin, N.C.) collected an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth to move the home side in front, 6-0.
SSU (9-22-1, 7-11 MEAC) finally broke through in the seventh and eighth innings with a run in each frame by way of a wild pitch and an error, but
Ryan Miller (Blandon, Pa.) notched his sixth win of his rookie season after tossing 7.1 innings with eight strikeouts and no walks.
The Eagles tied the game up with six runs in the seventh and eighth frames, starting with two runs in the seventh by way of a towering two-run crush from Bailey to the roof of the warehouse in right-center. NCCU capitalized on errors in the bottom of the eighth and nabbed four runs after
Corey Joyce (Lexington, N.C.) brought in the final run of the game on a single to right field.
Joyce finished the game by going 4-for-5 with two RBI and two runs scored, and Bailey was 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored as well. Bailey earned his first triple of the year and fifth home run, and Coston hit his fourth of the campaign.
NCCU will rest during the midweek before heading to Florida A&M on Friday, May 3 for the final MEAC Southern Division series of the year.
