Bethune-Cookman starting pitchers Hiram Burgos and Eric Thomas combined to limit Norfolk State to three runs while striking out 20 in the Wildcats’ 7-1, 5-2 sweep of the Spartans on Saturday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field.
Bethune-Cookman improves to 17-17 overall, 7-1 in the MEAC with the wins. NSU drops to 8-15, 4-6.
Game 1 started as a pitcher’s duel between two of the top hurlers in the MEAC, Bethune-Cookman’s Burgos and NSU’s Quinn Bright. The two matched each other through five scoreless innings, with Burgos retiring the first 17 batters he faced.
The Wildcats pushed across two runs in the top of the sixth on Ryan Durrence’s two-run single, but the Spartans cut their deficit in half in the bottom of the sixth. TiQuan Griffin broke up Burgos’ perfect game with a two-out solo home run to left-center, his first career homer.
But the Wildcats broke it open with five more in the top of the seventh. Drew Clark had a two-run single and Emmanuel Castro and Aaron Patterson also had RBI hits in the frame, which also included two Spartan errors.
Burgos (4-3) did the rest, allowing just two hits and striking out 11 in eight innings. Bright (3-3) took the loss despite allowing just four earned runs and walking none in seven innings. He struck out eight.
Clark and Chris Brown had two hits apiece in the opener for the Wildcats, who out-hit NSU 11-3.
In game 2, Thomas fanned nine over a seven-inning complete game and got just enough offensive support to hold off NSU.
Mark Brooks got B-CU on the board first with an RBI single in the top of the third. In the fourth, Wildcats’ Jose Ortiz led off with a single and later scored on a Spartan error.
NSU got a run back in the bottom of the fourth. Brandon Hairston led off with a double and scored when Thomas botched a throw on a sacrifice bunt. But Thomas went on to strike out the side in the inning after NSU had runners on first and third with no outs.
The Wildcats made it 4-1 in the fifth on Ortiz’s two-run single to left, and added a run in the sixth on Clark’s RBI single.
NSU made it a game in the bottom of the seventh. Anselmo Cantu drove in a run with an infield single, and Thomas walked Jermaine Berry to load the bases. But Thomas got Jerrod Farley to fly out on a hard-hit ball to center to end it. NSU stranded 10 runners in the nightcap.
Ortiz was 2-for-4 in the second game, and Clark scored twice.
Hairston was 2-for-4 with two runs scored, and led the Spartans with a 3-for-7 effort on the day.
Chase Davenport took the loss after allowing three earned runs in 4.2 innings of work. He struck out five.
The teams conclude their series with a game at noon on Sunday.