N.C. Central Splits With North Carolina A&T On Saturday                                              

DURHAM, N.C. - Despite dropping game one of Saturday's doubleheader to North Carolina A&T 19-8 at the Durham Athletic Park, North Carolina Central took control of game two and held on for the 8-5 victory, earning the crucial twinbill split on the day.

Game one was all NC A&T as the Aggies scored runs in the all but one frame in controlling the contest 19-8 as the ended after the eighth inning due to the MEAC 10-run rule.

It all began when A&T took a 3-0 advantage in the top of the first as Marquis Riley and Luke Tendler hit home runs to give the Aggies the earlier momentum.

After a scoreless second, NC A&T added four more runs that included three doubles in the frame to put the Aggies up 7-0.  

NCCU answered in the bottom of the third with back-to-back hits to start the inning from Tyson Simpson and Dylan Drayon which both came around to score on a Luke Tendler error and two sacrifice flies to get the maroon and gray on the board trailing 7-3 after three complete innings.

A&T added a run in the fourth and two in the fifth to take 10-3 lead and the Eagles tried to mount a rally in the following frame.

Three straight hits to begin the bottom of the fifth put the Eagles in position.  Anthony Wilson and Luis Diaz recorded singles as Troy Marrow ripped his seventh double of the year to make it 10-4.  After adding two more runs in the frame to make it 10-6, NCCU loaded the bases with two outs when Drayton was robbed by 6-foot-4 first baseman Kelvin Freeman on a line drive that he snagged out of the air keeping the deficit at four heading into the sixth.

A&T took that momentum and used it to put the maroon and gray away as Tendler drilled his second round-tripper of the day, this one a three-run shot putting the Aggies up for good at 13-6.

NC A&T went on to win game one 19-8 record season highs in hits (20) and runs (19).

Marrow finished game one 3-for-4 with a double, three RBI and two runs scored, while Tendler finished 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double, five runs scored, and five RBI.

Game two was a much different ballgame, but the Aggies continued the hot hitting and took the lead from the get-go as Dairio Little drilled double No. 12 of the year with one out in the top of the first and later plated the first run on Freeman's RBI single as the Aggies took a 1-0 lead.

The Eagles finally had an answer in the bottom-half of the frame as Drayton led off with a walk and advanced to third on a Simpson sacrifice bunt.  Diaz followed that up with an infield hit to put runners at first and third with one out.  Marrow drove in the first run on an error by A&T's Michael Radford tying the game at 1-1.  Sophomore Carter Williamson gave the Eagles their first lead of the day on a single to center field making it 3-1 in favor of NCCU.

In the bottom of the fourth, the maroon and gray made its final push with two outs as Drayton followed up Wilson's two out walk with an infield hit beating out Radford's throw to first putting runners on with two outs.  A Simpson walk loaded the bases for Diaz and he drilled a line drive to left field which was misplayed by McKoy and rolled all the way to the way, which allowed all three runners to score and Diaz ended up at third putting NCCU up 8-2.

A&T added two runs in the fifth and a run in the sixth to climb within three, but hit into a game ending 6-4-3 double play as the Eagles earned the twinbill split winning 8-5.

Junior Glenn Frye threw his fourth complete game allowing 11 hits and only one earned run with three walks and a strikeout, while Tyler Boone (3-4) for A&T took the loss going four-and-a-third surrendering six hits, five earned runs and five walks with only one strikeout.

NCCU (11-26, 7-7) saw great offensive production on the day from Diaz who went 4-for-6 (.667) with a double, two RBI, three runs scored, and two walks.  Marrow went 3-for-7 (.429) with a double, four RBI, three runs scored.  Drayton led the team in runs scored with four while also going 3-for-7 on the day.

For the complete story, visit www.nccueaglepride.com or www.ncataggies.com

Spartans Split Baseball Doubleheader with UMES

PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - NSU overcame an early three-run deficit to gut out an 11-10, 10-inning win over host Maryland Eastern Shore in game 1, but the Hawks charged back for an 11-4 win in game 2 as the teams split a MEAC doubleheader on Saturday afternoon at Hawks Stadium.

NSU is now 10-20 on the season, 6-7 in the MEAC. UMES is 9-26, 8-6.

Game 1 featured a combined 21 runs, 31 hits and 11 errors. UMES took advantage of early walks and errors from the Spartans to go up 3-0. The Spartans would score eight of the game's next nine runs as their bats came to life, before UMES rallied with three runs in the bottom of the ninth to force extra innings. But NSU scored the go-ahead run when Chase Kyriacou drew a bases-loaded walk in the top of the 10th, and Jordan Egan set down UMES in the bottom of the 10th to help the Spartans end their six-game losing streak.

Down 3-0, NSU scored four times in the top of the fourth. Ryan Montgomery led off with a double and scored on a Ross Cardwell single. The Spartans then converted four Hawk errors and a wild pitch into three more runs, giving NSU a 4-3 edge.

The Spartans added two runs in both the fifth and sixth innings. In the fifth, Shane Hoggard doubled and scored on a Chris Warren RBI triple. Mikey Bruno followed with a single to plate Warren.

In the sixth, Hoggard stroked his second double in as many innings, knocking in a pair of runs to give NSU an 8-4 lead.

UMES drew within 8-7 with a three-run sixth, with two runs scoring on Jeffrey Fleetwood's single. Bruno, though, gave the Spartans a cushion with a two-run single in the top of the eighth inning.

The Hawks still weren't done, knotting the game with three more runs in the bottom of the ninth off NSU reliever Richie Salter. Tre-von Johnson singled - his sixth hit of the game - and scored on Fleetwood's triple. Malik Wylie followed with an RBI single, and later scored on NSU's fifth error of the game to force extras.

But the Spartans wasted little time in taking the lead for good. Tyon Ore led off the inning with a walk, and UMES pitcher Karim Gonzalez loaded the bases by walking Hunter Kenney and Justin Lee. Byron Parker relieved Gonzalez but didn't fare any better, walking Kyriacou to force in Ore with the go-ahead run.

Egan improved to 2-3 on the year with 1.2 scoreless innings of work. He fanned three batters. Gonzalez (1-4) gave up one run and walked five in 1.1 innings of work to take the loss.

Cardwell had a season-high three hits and went 3-for-6 in the opener for NSU. He scored three times. Montgomery went 2-for-5 with three runs scored, while Bruno was 2-for-4 with a season-high three RBI, and Hoggard and Warren added two hits each.

Johnson went 6-for-6 and Fleetwood was 4-for-5 for UMES, which outhit the Spartans 18-13.

Game 2 was all UMES. Brandon Schott hit a two-run homer off NSU starter Justin Bhatti in the second. The Hawks scored twice in the fourth - one coming on Wylie's RBI double - then three more times in the fifth. Fleetwood hit an RBI triple and Schott added a run-scoring double to highlight the frame. Wylie added an RBI triple in a four-run Hawks' sixth.

The Spartans scored all four of their runs in the top of the seventh and final inning. Kyriacou hit his first career triple to plate NSU's first two runs. Montgomery knocked him in with a sacrifice fly, and Montgomery scored on Kenney's RBI double.

Kyriacou had two of NSU's five hits in game 2. Cardwell was 1-for-3 to complete his 4-for-9, four-run scored day. Bhatti (2-4) took the loss after yielding 11 hits and six earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched.

Johnson was 3-for-4 for UMES in the nightcap and went 9-for-10 on the day. Fleetwood had five hits in the doubleheader.

Jacob Foreman (4-4) earned the win with a complete game in the nightcap for the Hawks. He struck out six.

For the complete story, visit www.nsuspartans.com or www.umeshawks.com