Delaware State outlast Navy, 13-8
DOVER, Del. --- Delaware State scored six times in the bottom of the eighth inning to erase a one-run deficit in a 13-8 win over Navy at Soldier Field today. The Hornets trailed 8-7 before the eighth inning explosion.
Eddie Sorondo singled in the first two runs of the inning to give DSU a 9-8 lead. Charles Dailey and Cameron Onderko had run-scoring singles; and Chris Gonzalez drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the inning.
The Hornets opened the scoring on back-to-back doubles by Cameron Cecil and Aaron Nardone in the bottom of the first inning. Cecil was two-for-five with a double, while Nardone had two hits and a RBI in four at bats to give him a team high 34 runs batted in this season.
After Navy scored three runs in the top of the second to take a 3-1 lead, the Hornets answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning to pull back on top.
First baseman Chris Gonzalez had the big blow in the inning, a three-run blast over the fence in left field to give the Hornets a 4-3 lead. It was the first home run of his collegiate career. Gonzalez had a career-best four RBI in the game.
Sorondo added a two-run single for the Hornets in the second. He was two-for-three with four RBI in the contest.
After Navy scored a run in the fourth to pull to within 6-4, Mike Alexander led off the DSU fourth with his sixth homer of the season to give the Hornets a three-run lead.
The Midshipmen scored two runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh off the Hornets’ bullpen to open up an 8-7 lead.
Onderko had four of DSU’s 18 hits, while six players collected two hits each.
Reliever Eric Sharff (5-3), the Hornets’ sixth pitcher of the game, threw 2.2 scoreless innings to earn the win.
Despite giving up eight runs, DSU pitchers did not allow an earned run due to five Hornet errors.
Travis Blue was two-for-four with three RBI, while Robert Currie had two hits and two RBI in four at bats for the Midshipmen.
Navy’s reliever Sam Sorenson (1-3) allowed two hits and three runs in 0.1 innings to take the loss.
The Hornets return to MEAC action with a three-game series at home against Norfolk State this weekend. The series at Soldier Field begins with a doubleheader on Saturday (Apr. 26) starting at noon.
The teams will wrap up the series with a single game on Sunday at 1 p.m. DSU leads Norfolk State by percentage points for first place in the MEAC North race.
For complete story, visit www.dsuhornets.com
Early explosion by Colonials too much for UMES
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. - The University of Maryland Eastern Shore baseball team was unable to hold its own in windy conditions on Wednesday afternoon as the Hawks fell to George Washington, 14-1, at Hawk Stadium.
The loss is the fifth consecutive for UMES since Saturday after the squad posted a three-game winning streak through the middle of last week. UMES was plagued by a season-high eight errors in the contest.
Senior Stephen Bull upped his consecutive games reached base to 28 after walking in the first. The game ended the same streak for senior Byron Campbell, who failed to get on base for the first time in the past 15 games. Junior Greg Turlik led the Hawks with three hits, including a double, while freshman Troy Anderson was 2-for-2 with the only RBI.
UMES (11-25) fell behind right from the get go as George Washington (14-24) benefitted from two errors and two beanballs to take a 6-0 lead after one. The Hawks went quiet in the bottom of the inning, before GW scored three more runs to chase UMES sophomore starter Will Turley in the second.
The maroon and gray finally got on the board in their next at-bat after freshman Justin Dattilo doubled and scored two hitters later on a double to right by Anderson. Justin Sheinkop (2-1) bared down to get the next two hitters to thwart the rally.
GW equalized the run with a tally of its own in the third.
The Hawks would fall even deeper in the hole after allowing three more runs in the third. The push would remove junior Mike Epps from the game as Head Coach Pedro Swann inserted sophomore James Dibuo. Epps finished with 4.2 innings pitched with one earned run and four walks. He was the first of four relievers for the Hawks against GW.
The Hawks posted just three hits the rest of the way as Sheinkop and Andrew Piccin were fantastic for the opposition. The win is the third in the past four games for George Washington as the Colonials wrapped up the season sweep of UMES.
George Washington was paced by Joey Bartosic, who was 4-for-6 with one run and three RBI. Ryan Xepoleas had three hits and two runs, while Mattheiu Robert had two hits and three runs. GW benefitted from eight errors by the Hawks, while making just one of their own
UMES will take two days off before traveling to Coppin State to resume its Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference schedule on Saturday, April 26.
For complete story, visit www.umeshawks.com
Home Runs Lift Rattlers To Upset Over No. 12 Florida
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – First year head coach Jamey Shouppe earned his first signature win as Florida A&M (18-21, 10-7 MEAC) used two two-run home runs by Ryan Kennedy and Jeremy Barlow to defeat Florida (27-15, 12-6 SEC) 4-3 on Wednesday evening at McKethan Stadium. The win was the first for the Rattlers over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 4 Miami 2-1 in 1980 in Tallahassee. It also marks the first win in the series over Florida for Florida A&M, 18 games, dating back to 1980.
Barlow went 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI to lead the FAMU offense while Brandon Fleming (3-3) came in in the fourth inning and only allowed one run over three innings with two strikeouts for the win. Kendal Weeks pitched the final 2 1/3 innings for his first save.
Florida scored first with an unearned run in the bottom of the first inning. Richie Martin walked with one out, stole second and moved up a base on a flare to right from Harrison Bader. Starting pitcher William Carrasco tried to catch Bader stealing second but an errant throw to second allowed Martin to score from third for the 1-0 lead.
In the fourth inning, Kennedy’s seventh home run of the season, a two-run blast over the fence in left, put Florida A&M up 2-1. Bennie Robinson walked on four pitches to lead off the inning and stole second with no outs. Marlon Gibbs laid down a nice sac bunt to advance Robinson to third before Kennedy’s shot put the Rattlers on the board.
UF tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth on an RBI single from Bader. Casey Turgeon was hit-by-pitch to start the home half of the inning for Florida and moved all the way to third on a high chopper from Martin back to the pitcher. Martin was tagged out by Fleming on the play.
The Rattlers regained the lead for good at 4-2 in the seventh on Barlow’s two-run home run. Just as it happened to the Gators in the last half inning, Michael Birdsong was hit-by-pitch to start the Rattler seventh inning. Jared Walker who has missed the last nine games with a hand injury came in to pinch run for Birdsong. Walker stole second and was pushed to third on Ryan Hutson’s sac bunt to watch Barlow’s home run sail into the bleachers in left field.
The seventh inning got a little dicey for the Rattlers. Cameron Sims came in for relief of John Marcus Roberts following back-to-back one-out singles by the Gators that put runners at first and second. Sims pitched Sternagel to fly out to center but hit Turgeon to load the bases with two outs. With the bases loaded, Weeks moved from second to pitch in relief of Sims and caused Martin to fly out on the very first pitch, holding the FAMU lead at 4-2
Bader’s solo home run in the eighth for the Gators cut the Rattler lead to 4-3. Zack Powers later tripled to center with two outs but Peter Alonso flew out to right to end the inning and the scoring threat for UF.
Florida reliever Shaun Anderson (0-1) suffered the loss for the Gators after giving up the go ahead run in the fourth inning.
Florida A&M returns to MEAC action this weekend with a key conference series against North Carolina Central (15-25-1, 10-9 MEAC) in Durham, NC. The Rattlers and Eagles will play a doubleheader on Saturday, April 26, as game times are scheduled for 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm. The series finale will be on Sunday at 1:00 pm.
For complete story, visit www.famuathletics.com
Fast start not enough for NCCU against Longwood
FARMVILLE, Va. – Wednesday night saw North Carolina Central University jump out in front of Longwood University to the tune of 4-0 after two innings, but the Lancers turned it up a notch on the way to an 11-5 victory over the Eagles at Charles Buddy Bolding Stadium in Farmville, Va.
In the top first inning, a leadoff single by senior Zack Lee turned into a 1-0 lead for NCCU on freshman Bryant Battle’s sacrifice fly to centerfield, but the Eagles left two stranded in the frame.
After a 1-2-3 bottom-half of the first, the maroon and gray plated three more runs, including the sixth home run of the year for Christian Triplett to begin the inning. The senior duo of Tyson Simpson and Carter Williamson recorded RBI singles to score freshman Jared Kehagias and Lee respectively as the Eagles led 4-0 after two complete innings.
The host Lancers awoke in the bottom of the third scoring five runs on five hits highlighted by Brandon Delk’s triple to left centerfield as Longwood took a 5-4 lead in that frame.
While the maroon and gray left a runner on base over the fifth and the sixth inning, Longwood distanced themselves with three runs that included the second Lancer triple of the night, this time by Kyri Washington to make it 8-4 after six complete.
LU scored the final three Lancer runs of the night in the seventh to expand the lead to 11-4, while the Eagles plated a run in the top of the ninth as Lee started the frame off with his second triple of the year. Despite the run, the maroon and gray left the bases loaded as the contest ended with Longwood taking the game 11-5.
Lee accounted for one-third of the Eagles’ hits on Wednesday night going 3-for-4 with a triple and three runs scored, while Williamson finished 2-for-4 with two RBI in the loss.
NCCU (15-25-1) looks to regroup with the final MEAC series of the regular season coming up this weekend as they host the Rattlers of Florida A&M who currently reside in first place in the MEAC’s Southern Division at 10-7, while the maroon and gray are third at 10-9 in the conference.
First pitch of “Senior Weekend” between the Eagles and Rattlers takes place Saturday, April 27 with doubleheader action at 1:00 p.m. from the Durham Athletic Park in Durham, N.C.
For complete story, visit www.nccueaglepride.com
UMBC edges Coppin State
BALTIMORE – David Hamlett slugged a two-run homer to highlight his three-hit evening and ignite a three-run sixth inning rally for the Coppin State baseball team during a tough 6-5 loss to Maryland-Baltimore County Wednesday night at windy Alumni Field.
Hamlett had a memorable performance for the Eagles, who dropped their second consecutive one-run game. Overall, Hamlett smashed the ball all over the field against the Retrievers. He also had two doubles and drove in three of Coppin State’s five runs. He raised his batting average to a team-best .295 after his ninth multi-hit game of the season.
Hamlett’s homer pulled CSU to within, 4-1 and provided a major lift to the Eagles. Coppin State followed Hamlett’s blast by keeping the pressure on UMBC. The Eagles got three straight singles from Michael Wright, Darien Percell and Chris Godfrey to tie the game 4-4. Percell had two hits for Coppin State for his fifth multi-hit effort of the season. Overall as a team, Coppin State outhit UMBC, 10-9, the sixth time this year CSU has had double-digit hits in a game.
Dalton Cozart had an active evening for Coppin State with a single and a pair of walks. He scored in the seventh inning on Hamlett’s double that pulled Coppin State to within, 6-5. Jeffrey Fitch extended his hitting streak to five games by leading off the game with a single and advancing to second on an error. Two batters later, Bryant Miranda singled to right to score Fitch and give Coppin State a 1-0 lead in the first innng.
William Grebenstein pitched 1.1 innings to extend his scoreless innings streak to 9.1 innings and he lowered his already microscopic earned run average to 0.68 over his last three outings.
The difference in the game was UMBC drew a pair of bases-loaded walks in the sixth inning that snapped a 4-4 tie. UMBC seniors D.J. Smith and Brandon Coluccio well as freshman Andrew Casali each collected multi-hit games as UMBC (13-18) won for the seventh game in a row.
Coppin State returns to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) play Saturday when it hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore in a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 p.m. Coppin State is 4-2 against UMES this season.
For complete story, visit www.coppinstatesports.com