Bryce Nugent homered and drove in seven runs in the opener, and Ricky Pacione hit an eighth-inning grand slam in game 2 to help Marist to a 14-5, 9-5 sweep of Norfolk State at Marty L. Miller Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Spartans (2-4), playing their first games since Feb. 25, have now lost four straight. The Red Foxes improve to 6-2.
In game 1, Nugent went 4-for-5 with seven RBI. He hit a two-run double in the first, an RBI single in the third, drove in a run with a fielder’s choice in the Red Foxes’ six-run sixth, and hit a three-run homer in the eighth.
Jon Schwind was 2-for-5 wit two runs scored and two RBI. George Agostini and Pacione added two hits apiece for Marist.
Anselmo Cantu was 3-for-5 for NSU with a single, a double and a triple. Brandon Hairston was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, and Drew Suttmiller and TiQuan Griffin also had two hits each.
Josh Rickards (2-0) got the win after allowed one run in five innings. Quinn Bright took the loss to fall to 1-1. He allowed 10 runs, eight earned, in five innings.
The Spartans got off to a fast start in the nightcap. Cantu and Jermaine Berry (Suffolk, Va.) hit back-to-back solo homers in the second inning of Marist starter Richard Cary. It was Cantu’s second homer of the year and gave him a ?cycle’ for the day, while Berry’s homer was the first of his collegiate career. Griffin and Suttmiller also had run-scoring singles in the Spartans’ four-run second-inning outburst.
But Marist answered with four runs in the fourth, all with two outs, to tie the game. John Prano had a two-run single to cut the lead in half, and after an NSU error allowed a third run to score, Pacione tied it with an RBI single.
The Spartans took a 5-4 lead in the bottom of the fourth as Chris Warren led off with a double and later scored on a groundout by John Lynch (Newport News, Va.). But the Red Foxes again answered, tying the game at 5-all in the fifth on Michael Gallic’s single.
Both teams settled down, as Marist reliever Kyle Putnam and NSU reliever Ryan Shook found a rhythm. But Marist finally broke through in the eighth. Gallic walked and moved to second on a sacrifice. Shook then walked Prano intentionally. NSU then misplayed a potential double-play grounder, loading the bases for Pacione. He homered deep to right to put the Red Foxes in charge.
Jacob Wiley relieved Putnam and pitched the final 1.2 innings for the win, his first of the year. Shook fanned a career-best eight hitters in 4.1 innings of relief, but dropped to 0-1.
Warren was 3-for-4 with three doubles and two runs scored for NSU in the nightcap. Suttmiller and Hairston each had two hits for the second game in a row, joining Cantu by going 4-for-8 on the afternoon.
Pacione ended the day 5-for-9 with six RBI, while Nugent was 5-for-8.
The teams conclude their series on Sunday at 1 p.m.