FAMU RALLIES PAST SAVANNAH STATE, 16-14
SAVANNAH, Ga. (Feb. 27) - The Florida A&M University Baseball team scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning to rally past Savannah State 16-14, Saturday in the SSU Classic at Tiger Field.
FAMU (2-3) punched out 13 hits with Darryl Evans finishing with a team high three hits.
SSU (1-5) finished with a game high 15 hit with both Julius Green and Dexter Kelley, both finishing with three hits each.
Steven Dollar (1-1) picked up the win for the Rattlers, allowing three hits and striking four in four and one-third scoreless innings in relief.
Michael Allegretti (0-2) took the loss for the Tigers as he gave up eight hits, four earned runs and striking out six in four innings.
Jarred Jeffries gave the Rattlers an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first as he scored on an Evans' ground out to second.
The Tigers took the lead in the bottom of the first as Darien Campbell scored on a Dexter Kelley double, then Kelley would score on a wild pitch, giving the SSU a 2-1 lead.
Stavonne Martin would tie the game at 2-2 as he scored on a wild pitch in the top of the second inning.
SSU would convert five hits and one FAMU error to plate six runs in the bottom of the second innings, to take an 8-2 lead.
In the top of the third inning, the Rattlers would push across four runs to cut the Tigers' lead to 8-6 as Jeffries scored on a SSU infielder's error, followed by Elliott Bonner scoring on a balk. Then both Evans and Shaw would score as Evans scored on a wild pitch and Shaw scoring on a Scott Sheplak ground out to third base.
The Tigers would take an 11-6 lead in the bottom of the third inning as Campbell, Green and Dondreguis Jackson would score on a Kelly double to center field.
FAMU plated three more runs in the top of the fourth inning as Justin Abney homered to leadoff the inning. Both Jeffries and Bonner would score as Jeffries scored on an error and Bonner scoring on an Evans single, cutting SSU's lead to 11-9.
Kevin Herlihy added to the Tigers' lead in the bottom of the fourth as he scored on a Jackson ground out to the pitcher, making the score 12-9 in favor of the SSU.
The Rattlers cut the Tigers lead to 12-11 in the top of the fifth inning as both Mykel Benson and Jeffries scored on a passed ball.
Both Kelley and Matthew Nowacki would score the Tigers final runs in the bottom of the fifth inning with Kelley scoring on a Brandon Webster single and Nowacki scoring on a bases loaded walk, giving SSU a 14-11 lead.
But FAMU would cut SSU's lead to 14-13 as they scored a run in the top of the seventh and another run in the top of the eighth.
In the top of the ninth inning, the Rattlers would score three runs as Jeffries would score a bases loaded walk. Then Martin would ground out to the short stop scoring Evans, followed by a John Scott single up the middle that would score Shaw to give the Rattlers a 16-14, win over Tigers.
RATTLERS AND NORFOLK STATE BATTLE TO A 12-12 TIE
SAVANNAH, Ga. ( Feb. 27) - After eight complete innings of play, the Florida A&M University Baseball game against Norfolk State was called due to darkness with the Rattlers and Spartans ending in a 12-12 tie, Saturday evening at Tiger Field.
FAMU (2-3-1) finished with game high 13 hits with both Jared Jeffries and Tobi Adeyemi finishing with three hits each.
NSU (1-3-1) tallied 12 hits with Brandon Hairston leading the way with three hits.
The Rattlers took a 9-0 lead after two complete innings of play by scorning one run in the bottom of the first and eight runs in the bottom of the second inning.
John Lynch would score on a bases loaded walk to cut the Rattlers lead to 9-1 in the top of the third inning.
NSU would score three runs in their half of the fourth, fifth and seventh inning to take a 10-9 lead after six and one-half innings of play.
FAMU would tie the game at 10-10 in the bottom of the seventh inning as Derrick Shaw scored on a bases loaded hit-by-pitch.
But the Spartan would take a 12-10 lead in the top of the eighth inning as Hairston homered to lead off the inning, followed by a TiQuan Griffin sacrifice fly scoring Cameron Parsons.
The Rattlers would score two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning as Jeffries scored on a Spartan infielder's error. Then an Adeyemi would score on a Shaw sacrifice sly to center field for the 12-12 tie.
FAMU will return to action on Tuesday, March 2 as they will host Mercer University in a single game at Moore-Kittles Field in a 4 p.m. start.