North Carolina A&T Routes Rattlers Twice, 13-4, 13-4
-The number 13 proved to an unlucky number for the Florida A&M as they were swept by North Carolina A&T in a doubleheader by the same score 13-4 in both games, Friday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium.
In game one, FAMU (6-15-1, 0-5 MEAC) finished with four hits with both John Scott and Tobi Adeyemi finishing with two hits each.
N.C. A&T (11-14, 4-0 MEAC) tallied a game high 15 hits as Nick Rogers went a perfect four-for-four from the plate scoring two runs with three RBI.
Esterlin Paulino picked the win for the Aggies, allowing six hits and striking out eight in eight innings of work, while Heath Blackburn (1-5) took the loss for the Rattlers as he gave up 12 hits and six earned runs in five innings on the mound.
Two home runs by George Hines and Nick Rogers gave the Aggies a 2-0 lead after three innings of play with Hines going yard in the bottom of the first inning and Roger going deep in the bottom of the third inning.
FAMU tied the game at 2-2 in the top of the fourth as Derrick Shaw scored on an Aggie infielder's error and Darius Washington scoring on Oscar Santalo ground out to second.
The Aggies would take a 6-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as N.C. A&T turned two hits and one FAMU error into four runs.
Shaw cut the Aggies' lead to 6-3 in the top of the sixth as he score on a Santalo double down the left field line.
The bottom of the sixth inning would prove to be a big inning for N.C.A&T as they scored six runs, on five hits and one FAMU error to take a 12-3 lead.
Marquis Riley would score the Aggies final run of the game on a Mark Nales single through the left side in the bottom of the seventh inning, giving N.C. A&T a 13-3 lead.
Santalo scored the Rattlers final run of the game on a John Scott single through to the left side for the 13-4 finally.
In game two, the Rattlers finished with 11 hits, while the Aggies tallied 12 hits.
FAMU was paced by Shaw, who finished four-for-four from the plate with two RBIs, while N.C. A&T was led by Hines, who went three-for-four from the plate scoring two runs and with one RBI.
Nick Rogers (5-2) picked up the win for the Aggies allowing 10 hits, three earned runs and striking out seven in six and two-third innings, while Steven Dollar (2-3) took the loss for the Rattlers as he gave up 12 hits, seven earned runs and striking out two in five innings.
Adeyemi gave the Rattlers a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning as he scored on an Aggie outfielder's error.
FAMU took a 4-0 lead in the top of the third inning as Shaw doubled down the right field line scoring both Adeyemi and Washington. Jimmie Terrell would then score on a Stavonne Martin ground out to second base.
N.C. A&T would take the lead in the bottom of the fourth inning as James Howard scored on a Hines single up the middle. Hines would then score on a double steal with Little stealing second base, while Hines stole home. Little would then score on a Xavier Macklin sacrifice fly to center field, followed by a Alex Grubb two-run homer to right field, making the score 5-4 in favor of the Aggies.
The Aggies made the score 8-4 in the bottom of the fourth inning as Little tripled to left field scoring Howard, followed by a Rogers' two-run homer.
N.C A&T would score five more runs in the bottom of the fifth inning for the 13-4 win.
The Rattlers will conclude their three-game series against the Aggies in a single game on Saturday, April 3 in a 1 p.m. start.
Delaware State Comes From Behind To Top UMES, 9-8
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - Maryland Eastern Shore built an 8-0 lead after four innings against Delaware State but the Hornets scored nine unanswered runs to defeat the Hawks, 9-8, in MEAC baseball action at Hawks Stadium Friday.
Delaware State (5-16, 1-0 MEAC) tied the game with four in the seventh of off right-handed senior relief pitcher Cameron Zimmerman after chipping away at the deficit with a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth, respectively, to spoil a solid six-inning outing from junior Matt Witte.
Zimmerman failed to record an out as he gave up a solo home run to DSU's Abe Eubank and proceeded to load the bases on a single and two walks.
Freshman Tony Gonzales replaced Zimmerman and induced Joey Babuca to hit a fly ball to right field that Donnie Haines dropped, allowing two to come and make it an 8-7 game. After Gonzales struck out Elliott Gardner for the first out of the inning, Jose Portela evened things with a sacrifice fly to right, plating Mike Rizzuto.
Tony Gatto then delivered a one-out RBI double to the gap in left center, scoring Eubank from first for the winning run.
Witte allowed four hits and four runs in his 99-pitch outing. He walked five and struck out three.
UMES tagged Hornets' starter Zach Adkins for six runs in the first, the Hawks' most runs in an inning this season. Up 1-0, junior Elliott Alston staked his team to a 3-0 advantage, blasting a 2-1 pitch over the wall in right center for his first home run of the year. After a Bryan Chaikowsky walk, Nick Wiggins singled for first and third and one out. Haines then singled to right field to score Chaikowsky and Luis Mena followed with an RBI double to chase home Wiggins.
The Hawks opened a six-run bulge when Adkins uncorked a wild pitch and Haines scored from third.
Aston doubled down the left-field line in the fourth to make it 5-0, scoring J.J. Corriveau from first. Corriveau reached on an error by the Eubank.
Chaikowsky then struck out but reached first on a wild pitch. With runners on first and third, Chaikowsky stole second and moved to third when catcher Babuca's throw went into the outfield. Alston scored on the play.
Adkins lasted six innings. He gave up all eight UMES runs (six earned), struck out seven and walked four in 114 pitches.
Eubank got Delaware State on the scoreboard in the fifth with an RBI double, scoring Keith Hernandez and Gatto added a sac fly later in the inning. Gardner pulled DSU to within 8-4 with a one-out two-run homer to left center in the sixth.
Derek Marshallsea and Jose Portela (1-0) picked up the win and save, respectively, combining to one-hit UMES for the final three innings. It was Portela's first save of the season after going 1-for-5 with a double and RBI at the plate.
Gonzales (0-1) shouldered the loss, going three innings, allowing one run, three hits, and a walk. He also fanned four.
UMES outhit DSU, 11-9, led by Alston's 2-for-3 performance with the homer, double, three RBIs and two runs scored. In all, four players had two hits each and seven scored runs for UMES.
Eubank had a game-high three hits with three runs scored and a pair driven in the win.
The teams close the series with a doubleheader Saturday starting at noon.
Spartans, Eagles Split MEAC Doubleheader
Norfolk State split a MEAC doubleheader with visiting Coppin State on Friday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field. The Eagles took game one by a score of 7-4, but the Spartans rallied to take the nightcap, 7-2.
Chris Joyce led the Spartans (8-10-1, 1-4 MEAC) by going 4-for-9 with a pair of doubles and two RBI in the two games.
The Eagles (9-12, 3-1) started the opener strong by scoring three runs in the top of the first. After a pair of walks by Spartan starter Chase Davenport (Wooster, Ohio) started the game, Harry Williams hit an RBI single and Derek Richards a run-scoring double. Mark Reynoso capped the rally with a sacrifice fly.
CSU made it 4-0 in the third as Richards hit another RBI double.
The NSU bats woke up in the middle innings, scoring once in the fifth, once in the sixth and twice in the seventh. James Taylor hit an RBI single in the fifth, one of his career-high three hits in the first game. Cameron Parsons did likewise in the sixth, and Joyce tied the game with a long two-run double in the seventh.
But CSU scored the go-ahead runs in the eighth. Craig Richmond led off with a walk by Davenport and later scored on a wild pitch by NSU reliever Ryan Shook. Dwight Robinson's run-scoring single later in the frame made it 6-4.
The Eagles tacked on another insurance tally in the ninth on Dan Gleiberman's sacrifice fly.
The Spartans got their first two runners in the bottom of the ninth, but Richards got the final three outs for the save.
Tim Pomierski (4-2) pitched eight-plus solid innings for the Eagles to get the win. He allowed 11 hits and four runs, two earned. Davenport (2-2) was charged with the loss after allowing five earned runs in seven-plus innings.
The second game would be a different story as the Spartans scored all their runs in the first three innings.
John Lynch highlighted a two-run first inning with a run-scoring single. NSU made it 3-1 in the second as a result of two Coppin State errors.
The Spartans increased their advantage to 7-1 with a four-run third inning. Sammy Serafine and Chris Warren hit RBI singles, Drew Suttmiller laced an RBI double and Ryan Montgomery knocked in another run with a groundout.
That was more than enough for NSU senior right hander Jason Barker. He pitched his first complete game of the season and the first for the Spartans in 2010. Barker scattered 10 hits and two runs in seven innings to improve to 2-2 on the year. Barker fanned three and walked no one.
Jim Vagnier (2-2) was saddled with the loss. He went all six innings for CSU, allowing six hits and seven runs, five earned.
Richards and Robinson had four hits apiece on the day to pace the Eagles' offense.
The teams complete their series on Saturday. First pitch is scheduled for noon.