NORFOLK, Va. – The North Carolina Central University baseball program used a handful of big innings to pick up a doubleheader sweep at Norfolk State, 10-8 and 10-0, on Saturday, March 6 at Marty Miller Field.
NCCU (6-3) scored a total of 20 runs with 24 hits in the two wins over NSU (2-7), and the pitching staff worked together to compile 25 strikeouts.
GAME ONE: The Eagles set the tone for the first game by striking for six in the top of the second on five hits, and sent 12 batters to the plate to take a 6-0 lead.
Austin Vernon (Raleigh, N.C.) followed his 12 strikeout performance from last week with another one in this game in just four innings of work, and he finished his outing by striking out the last four batters he faced.
NCCU added to its advantage in the top of the sixth by pushing the score to 6-1 by way of an error, but NSU woke up the bats in the bottom of the seventh as it scored five to close the gap to just one run at 7-6. Korey Singh (Sangre Grande, Trinidad & Tobago) provided the big blow in the frame with a three-run homer.
The Eagles were not deterred and went on to score three more unanswered runs in the eighth and ninth to take a 10-6 lead with just three outs remaining for the Spartans. NSU tried to mount one last rally in the bottom of the ninth as it scored a pair of runs on a groundout and a sacrifice fly, but
Scott Meylan (Pittsburg, Calif.) held firm and locked up his second save of the year to give the Eagles a dramatic 10-8 victory.
GAME TWO: NCCU once again broke the game open in the top of the second inning in game two, this time around on a two-RBI double from
Patrick Doran (Evergreen Park, Ill.) and a two-RBI single from
Kokko Figueiredo (Fortuna, Calif.). The Eagles scored all 10 of their runs in four consecutive innings from the second to the fifth, and bookended the scoring with another four-run frame in the fifth.
Luis DeLeon (Providence, R.I.) knocked a two-RBI single in the top of the fifth, and finished his day with his third triple of the season in the top of the seventh inning.
While the Eagles hammered away at the plate,
Ryan Miller (Blandon, Pa.) kept the noise at a minimum on the mound as he spun his second seven-inning complete game shutout of the campaign. He fanned nine batters without a walk, and scattered just four hits. Miller didn't allow a runner past second base, and struck out six of the final 10 batters he faced in the contest.
Five separate Eagles picked up three hits at the plate during the doubleheader, and DeLeon drove in four RBI with two walks and a stolen base. Figueiredo ushered home three RBI with three hits, and
Jacob Raby (Granite Falls, N.C.) went 2-for-4 and walked five times with four runs scored.
Cort Maynard (Charlotte, N.C.) also touched home four times, and walked four times to go with three hits, ans swiped two bases.
The Eagles will go for the weekend sweep against the Spartans on Sunday, March 7 at 1:00 p.m. at the Durham Athletic Park.
