Norfolk State used a remarkable pitching performance to earn a 1-0, 12-inning win in game 1, but visiting Lafayette rallied to eke out a 5-4 win in the nightcap as the teams split a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field.
Game 1 was a classic pitcher’s duel between NSU (3-2) right hander Joey Seal and Lafayette righty Kevin Reese, a pair of seniors who both pitched nine-plus innings. The two matched zeroes through nine innings, with Seal retiring 16 straight batters at one point spanning the fourth through ninth innings.
Lafayette designated hitter Joe Ezekiel broke that hitless streak with a double to left-center with one out in the 10th. Seal then intentionally walked Matt Hall, Lafayette’s only free pass in the game. But Seal got Tom Ambrosole to bounce into a 6-3 double play to end the threat.
NSU advanced runners to third base in the 10th and 11th innings. But Reese got out of a jam in the 10th and reliever Brad Woodfield likewise in the 11th to send the game into a 12th inning.
The Spartans finally broke through in the 12th. With two outs, Brad Stephenson singled off Woodfield. Walks to John Boyd and Jerrod Farley loaded the bases. On a 2-2 count, Ryan Wiggins, who entered the game in the game in the top of the inning as a defensive replacement, lined a single into the left-center gap to score Stephenson with the winning run.
Seal set a new NSU single-game record by pitching 11 innings, topping the previous record of 10 innings held by two men. He allowed just four hits and one intentional walk. Seal struck out 11 batters, tying his personal-best, but did not factor into the decision. Frankie Caldeyro earned the win in relief to improve to 1-0 on the year, pitching a scoreless 12th inning.
Reese also got a no-decision, allowing just four hits in 10 innings while striking out three. Woodfield got the loss, allowing three hits and one run in 1.2 innings.
Ezekiel had two hits for Lafayette, and Chris Joyce was 2-for-4 with a double for the Spartans.
In game 2, Lafayette (3-2) rallied for two runs in the top of the sixth inning thanks to a pair of NSU errors to take the 5-4 win.
NSU held a 2-0 lead after RBI singles by Farley and Anselmo Cantu in the bottom of the second. But the Leopards rallied with three runs in the third to take a 3-2 edge. Ezekiel and Tom Hayes had RBI base hits in the inning.
NSU reclaimed the lead at 4-3 thanks to two runs in the fifth. Moriba George had an RBI single and Stephenson a sacrifice fly for the Spartans in the inning.
But Lafayette scratched across two unearned runs off NSU starter Leon Schabacker in the sixth. After an NSU error and a double by Ryan Roberts put runners at second and third, Lafayette scored the tying and winning runs on another Spartan miscue.
Jeremy Atkins (1-0) got the win for the Leopards in game 2, allowing four runs in five innings. Tyler Chromey earned the save, pitching two shutout innings of relief.
Schabacker (1-1) took the loss, allowing five runs, three earned, in six innings.
Hall was 3-for-4 for the Leopards in the nightcap. Farley, Chase Bailey and Billy Canady had two hits each for NSU.