DURHAM, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University baseball trailed Norfolk State for nearly the entire game before taking the lead in wild fashion in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Eagles held on for a 7-6 victory to sweep the Spartans on Sunday, March 7 at the Durham Athletic Park.
NSU (2-8) took early control of the game as its first three batters all knocked singles before a grand slam from Korey Singh (Sangre Grande, Trinidad & Tobago) unloaded the bases to send the Spartans ahead, 4-0, before recording their first out. NCCU (7-3) then halved the deficit to 4-2 in the bottom of the second on a two-run homer from
Patrick Doran (Evergreen Park, Ill.), as the longball featured prominently in the contest early on.
NSU rebuilt its four-run advantage in the top of the fourth by way of RBI singles from Dionte Brown (Smithfield, Va.) and Singh to send the guests ahead 6-2, but those would be the final runs from the Spartans.
The Eagles began fighting back in the bottom of the fifth with a three-run frame that was started by a two-run blast by
Nick Fajardo (Durham, N.C.) as he crushed his second big fly of the year, and the Eagles pulled within one at 6-5 with four innings remaining.
NCCU pushed the tying run into scoring position multiple times in the late innings, but finally broke through in the bottom of the eighth as it tied the game on a throwing error during a stolen base attempt, and then took the lead, 7-6, on a balk.
Caleb McRoy (Raleigh, N.C.) kept the Eagles in the game out of the bullpen as he carried a career-best five innings of work, and tied his career-best with seven strikeouts with just one hit allowed.
Scott Meylan (Pittsburg, Calif.) was called in for the final out of the game, and he got the job done for his third save of the year. That also allowed McRoy to pick up his first win of the season for his efforts.
All but two Eagle starters recorded a hit during the game, and both Doran and
Kokko Figueiredo (Fortuna, Calif.) had two-hit days. NCCU also recorded five extra base hits as a team with three doubles from Figueiredo,
Cort Maynard (Charlotte, N.C.), and
Chet Sikes (Trinity, N.C.), along with the two homers from Doran and Fajarardo.
Singh led NSU as he drove in five of the Spartans runs in a two-hit performance.
The Eagles will remain at home to host East Tennessee State for a three-game series at the Durham Athletic Park that will begin with a single game on Friday, March 12 at 4:00 p.m.
