NCCU Drops 3-0 Decision To East Carolina
GREENVILLE, N.C. – North Carolina Central y saw its nine-game winning streak end on Friday night at Clark-LeClair Stadium as the Pirates of East Carolina scored three runs in the first three innings and held the visiting Eagles to one hit in the 3-0 victory.
Despite being held to one hit, NCCU still had its chances to put runs on the board as the Eagles left five runners stranded in the contest.
In the bottom of the first, ECU threw the first blow with two outs when Zach Houchins drilled a double to left field scoring Dylan Brown who reached on a fielder’s choice earlier in the frame as the Pirates took a 1-0 lead.
The maroon and gray had two runners on with two outs in the top of the second and failed to plate a run as Ronald Thompson struck out looking to end the threat.
In the top-half of the third, the Eagles threatened again as Akeem Hood reached on a one out walk and ended up at with two stolen bases to give him 13 on the year, but senior Luis Diaz struck out to end the threat.
The game’s final two runs scored in the bottom of the third inning with one out when Jay Cannon’s single was followed up by Houchins first triple of the year to give the host Pirates a 2-0 advantage. First baseman Chase McDonald ripped a single to put ECU up 3-0 when the next two batters reached to load the bases when Hood made the defensive play of the night catching Bryan Bass’s shallow pop fly to center field, then throwing a frozen rope home to gun McDonald at-the-plate, minimizing the damage for the Eagles.
Down by three runs the Eagles could have folded under the pressure, but starter Michael Romano continued to battle on the hill keeping the Pirates scoreless the rest of his outing due to his gritty pitching and solid defense.
Junior Carter Williamson broke up Jeff Hoffman’s no-hit effort in the top of the fourth with a single up the middle for hit No. 116 of his career. Junior Spencer Franceschetti later hit into an inning ending double play to keep the Eagles scoreless.
The Pirates did not plate another run the rest of the way as ECU left 10 runners on base in holding on for the 3-0 shutout victory.
ECU (13-14) was paced by Hoffman’s effort on the hill as the righty threw a complete game shutout ending the night with seven strikeouts for the second time this season. Hoffman (3-3) allowed only one hit on the night.
Offensively the Pirates recorded 11 hits as Houchins finished 3-for-4 at-the-dish with a double, triple, a run scored and two RBI.
Romano (2-4) threw seven innings, allowed only three runs with three walks and two strikeouts.
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Norfolk State Take Series Opener from Coppin State
BALTIMORE -- David Hamlett drove in two runs, but a late Coppin State rally came up short as the Eagles dropped a 7-4 decision to Norfolk State in the first game of a three-game Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference series on Friday at Joe Cannon Stadium.
Norfolk State (8-16, 3-4 MEAC) took advantage of three Coppin State errors to score four unearned runs.
Ryan Montgomery, Robert Reaume and Killian Strenn each had two hits to lead the Spartan offense.
Coppin State (5-18, 2-5 MEAC) received hits from Dalton Cozart, Hamlett, Chris Godfrey, Jack Craft, Nathan Pitts and Colin Dower.
Norfolk State carried a 7-0 lead into the bottom of the eighth inning before the Eagles rallied.
Jay Maletz walked to lead off the inning and advanced to second when Pitts reached on an infield single.
Dower reached on a fielder's choice and Chris Kashangaki walked to load the bases. The Eagles scored their first run of the game when Cozart drew a walk, which forced in Maletz.
Hamlett then followed with a double to right scoring Dower and Kashangaki to cut the lead to 7-3 and chasing Norfolk State starter Chris Horne.
Alex Brown drew a walk, which loaded the bases with one out. Godfrey plated one run with an RBI groundout, but the inning was ended on a line out to right for the final out.
Horne picked up the victory for the Spartans to improve to 1-2 on the season, while Myles Taylor absorbed the loss for the Eagles and dropped to 1-4 overall.
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