TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The North Carolina Central University baseball program used timely hitting to prevail in extra innings in the first game of the day, 5-4, but Florida A&M responded by staying strong down the stretch to take the second game, 4-2, on Sunday, April 25 at Moore-Kittles Field.
 
NCCU (16-15, 8-8 MEAC) and FAMU (15-25, 9-7 MEAC) split the series, 2-2, and will meet again in Durham on May 13-15.
 
GAME ONE: FAMU took immediate action in the bottom of the first, as it started the game with a leadoff walk that was followed by an RBI double by Joseph Pierini (Crawfordville, Fla.).  The Rattlers added one more in the frame on a sacrifice fly by Jared Weber (Wakulla, Fla.), and took a 2-0 lead after one.
 
NCCU had to wait until the fourth inning to get the bats warmed up, but the Eagles used that momentum to score three runs to pull ahead of FAMU, 3-2.  Both Cort Maynard (Charlotte, N.C.) and Patrick Doran (Evergreen Park, Ill.) had run-producing at bats before the Eagles took the lead after scoring a runner from third on an error.
 
Maynard gave the Eagles some breathing room in the top of the sixth with a solo home run to give NCCU a 4-2 cushion, but FAMU quickly leveled the game in the bottom of the inning.  Weber hit an RBI triple, and then came in to score on a wild pitch to send the game to the final inning with both sides tied at 4.
 
Neither team was able to break the deadlock before the end of regulation, and the game was pushed into extra innings.  Maynard picked up his third hit of the game on a leadoff single in the top of the eighth, and eventually became the go-ahead run on a sacrifice fly by Jordan Varela-Payne (Raleigh, N.C.), to put the Eagles in front, 5-4.
 
Scott Meylan (Pittsburg, Calif.) was called in for the final three outs, and he was able to work around a walk and a single to give the Eagles the win in his league-leading seventh save of the year.  Ryan Miller (Blandon, Pa.) was credited with the win, and moved to 7-0.
 
GAME TWO: FAMU once again broke through first in the second half of the twinbill, this time by way of a three-run home run by Tucker Rayburn (Minneola, Fla.) in the bottom of the second. 
 
The Eagles were able to trim the lead down to one in the top of the third on a sacrifice fly by Kokko Figueiredo (Fortuna, Calif.) and an RBI single by Luis DeLeon (Providence, R.I.) to move the score to 3-2, however the Eagles' rally would be stopped there.
 
FAMU padded its lead with a solo home run by LJ Bryant (Leesburg, Ga.) in the bottom of the fifth, and claimed a 4-2 lead going into the late stages of the contest.  NCCU brought the tying run into the equation in both the fifth and sixth innings on doubles by Figueiredo and DeLeon, but the key hit remained elusive.
 
The Eagles put two runners on base in the top of the seventh after a walk and a single, and were able to bring the go-ahead run to the plate.  Chandellor Benton (Melbourne, Fla.) was called in from the bullpen for the final two outs, and he was able to finish the game for the save.
 
Figueiredo went 3-for-3 with a double and an RBI from the leadoff spot in this game, and DeLeon went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI as well.
 
The Eagles will finish up their 12-game road trip with a four-game series at North Carolina A&T that will begin on Friday, April 30 at War Memorial Stadium in Greensboro, North Carolina.