Hornets sweep twinbill with Norfolk State to extend MEAC North lead
DOVER, Del. --- The Delaware State University baseball team has opened up a two-game lead in the MEAC Northern Division after a doubleheader sweep of second place Norfolk State at Soldier Field today.
The Hornets erased an early four-run deficit to win the opener 8-5. Freshman Harry Thomas pitched his first career complete game to lead DSU to a 4-2 victory in the seven-inning nightcap.
Delaware State has won its last five games to improve to 23-13 overall and 12-6 in the MEAC. Norfolk State fell to 15-23 and 11-9. The Hornets led the Spartans by .014 percentage points for the top spot in the division race heading into today's doubleheader.
In the opener, the Hornets scored seven unanswered runs after traling 5-1 in the second inning.
Hassan Evans was two-for-four with a home run and three runs batted in, while Cameron Onderko had three hits, including a homer, and two RBI in four at bats to lead DSU’s 11-hit attack.
Norfolk State scored first in the opener with three runs off DSU starter Matt McClain in the top of the second inning.
Delaware State got a run back in the bottom of the second when Evans hit his first DSU home run, a solo shot over the fence in left field to cut the Spartans’ lead to 3-1.
Norfolk State threatened to blow the game open in the top of the third. The first five batters singled in the inning to give the Spartans a 5-1 lead. NSU had the bases loaded with none out when Justin Burrell hit a grounder to DSU shortstop DJ Miller, who flipped the ball to second base for what appeared to be the first out of the inning on the force. However, Norfolk State’s runner on first, Chase Kyriacou, was called for interference on the play, resulting in two outs and no advance by the other runners.
The next batter, Kyle Vaas, grounded out to first to end the inning and keep DSU's deficit at four runs.
The Hornets began to claw their way back in the bottom of the third.
Onderko led off the inning with his first career home run over the fence in right center to cut the Spartans’ lead to 5-2. Cameron Cecil followed with a double. He later scored on a single by Mike Alexander to pull the Hornets to within 5-3.
Delaware State scored two runs in the fifth to tie the game at 5-5. Aarron Nardone brought in the first run of the inning on a groundout and the tying run crossed the plate on a wild pitch by Norfolk State’s Devin Hemmrich.
The Hornets took the lead for the first time on a run in the sixth inning. Evans reached base on an error with two outs and later scored on a single by Onderko to give DSU a 6-5 lead.
Delaware State added some insurance when Evans singled in two runs with two outs in the seventh.
Reliever Chris Gonzalez pitched a scoreless eighth inning and closer Eric Sharff shut out the Spartans in the ninth to earn his third save of the season.
McClain (6-0) was credited with the win despite a shaky start. After giving up five runs on 10 hits in the first three innings, he shut down the Spartans on two hits in his last four frames.
In the nightcap, Thomas allowed two runs on three hits, while striking out three for the complete game win in his fifth start of the season. The freshman right hander is now 3-2 with a 1.89 ERA this year.
Norfolk State scored a run in the top of the third inning to open the game two scoring.
Gonzalez, starting at first base in the nightcap, led off the DSU third with his second homer of the season to tie the game at 1-1.
After the Spartans regained the lead with a run in the fourth, the Hornets answered with three in the bottom of the inning to pull ahead for good.
Nardone and Alexander each singled to lead off the DSU fourth. Evans followed with a triple to the fence in left center to score both runners and give the Hornets a 3-2 lead. Two batters later, DJ Miller drove home Evans on a sacrifice fly to stretch the lead to 4-2.
Thomas retired 10 of the last 11 batters he faced in the last 3.1 innings. The only Spartan to reach base during the span got on due to a DSU error in the sixth.
Evans was one-for-three in game two to go three-for-seven with five RBI in the twin-bill.
Gonzalez and Eddie Sorondo had two hits each in the nightcap.
Delaware State has won six of eight games against Norfolk State this season. The Hornets and Spartans will wrap their season series with a single game on Sunday. The first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Soldier Field.
For complete story, visit www.dsuhornets.com or www.nsuspartans.com
North Carolina A&T drops pair to Savannah State
GREENSBORO, N.C. -- The North Carolina A&T baseball team lost two huge games to the Savannah State Tigers on Saturday and are now in a must-win situation on Sunday to keep its MEAC tournament hopes alive.
The Aggies gave up double-digit runs for the third straight game with a 17-7 loss to the Tigers in Game 1 at War Memorial Stadium. In the second game of the doubleheader, Aaron Hoffer drove in the go-ahead run in the Tigers' 2-1 win.
The Aggies (15-28) are now 8-12 in the MEAC and sit in fifth place in the conference, a half game behind Savannah State (17-26) who is 8-11. Only the top four teams from the MEAC southern division advance to the MEAC tournament. After giving up 19 hits in Game 1, the Aggies need a big-time pitching performance to settle things. They got it from Tyler Boone (2-6) even though he was the losing pitcher. He went all seven innings, struck out five and surrendered two runs. His teammates gave him a 1-0 lead in the third as Lester Salcedo hit an RBI single to left field to score Dylan Hipp.
Boone ran into trouble however in the sixth when he gave up a leadoff single to Todd Hagen. Hagen then stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. After Boone got David Richards to strike out, Tre Sikes lined a single into left to score Hagen and tie the game at 1. Parker Nix kept the rally going when hit a groundball into the hole on the left side that didn't get out of the infield but was deep enough to get him to first safely as Sikes advanced to second. Hoffer gave the Tigers the lead for good when he roped a 2-1 offering into center to score Sikes.
The Aggies put two on in the seventh with no outs. But Dylan Hipp popped up his bunt attempt to left-hand releif pitcher Kevin Herlihy for out one. Herlihy finished off the game by striking out A&T's top slugger Luke Tendler and getting John Pope to pop out to first.
The two teams will conclude their series on Sunday at War Memorial with the first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. The Aggies will be celebrating Senior Day.
For complete story, visit www.ncataggies.com or www.ssuathletics.com
Florida A&M Baseball Splits Doubleheader at North Carolina Central
DURHAM, N.C. – Florida A&M (19-22, 11-8 MEAC) split a conference doubleheader with North Carolina Central (16-26-1, 11-10 MEAC) on Saturday at the Durham Athletic Park in Durham, NC. The Eagles rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the eighth inning of game one to win 8-5, while the Rattlers bounced back to take game two 7-3 while pounding out 11 hits.
Marlon Gibbs was 4-for-8 on the day with one RBI and three runs scored, including his first home run of the season. Bennie Robinson added three RBI over both games while hitting 3-for-9 and two runs scored.
Brandon Fleming (3-4) suffered the loss in game one for the Rattlers after allowing four runs on three hits in 1 2/3 innings of relief. Game two starter David Duncan (3-4) won the second game for Florida A&M while giving up three runs on six hits with four strikeouts in five solid innings of work.
FAMU grabbed a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning of game one. Gibbs smacked his first home run of the season, a two out shot to give the Rattlers the early lead.
NCCU answered with a pair of solo home runs by Carlos Ortiz and Carter Williamson in the home half of the first inning to give the Eagles a 2-1 advantage.
The Rattlers would tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the fourth. Gibbs led off the fourth inning with a single to left and moved to second courtesy of a balk from Eagles starting pitcher Kyle Shields. Ryan Kennedy followed with a groundout to second to advance Gibbs to third before Jeremy Barlow’s sac fly to left plated Gibbs for the tying run. After scoring the tying run, Florida A&M worked the bases loaded with two outs before Logan Seymour grounded out to third to end the scoring opportunity.
The Eagles had a scoring chance in the fifth as Zack Lee reached on an error to lead off the inning and stole second with no outs. After a pair of fly outs, Williamson was intentionally walked before Rattler starting pitcher Jarrell shut the door on the NCCU scoring chance by striking out Bryant Battle to end the inning.
Central regained the lead at 3-2 in the seventh on Williamson’s RBI single through the right side. Ortiz was hit-by-pitch and moved up two bases to third on a two-out single to right from Tyson Simpson to setup Williamson’s go ahead RBI single.
FAMU took their first lead since the first inning at 5-3 in the eighth. Bennie Robinson’s two-run blast off the warehouse building that is located beyond the fence in right gave FAMU the lead in the eighth inning at 4-3. After a Gibbs single, Michael Birdsong reached on a fielder as NCCU second baseman Jared Kehagias dropped the ball, for a fielding error, trying to catch Gibbs advancing to second base. With runners on first and second, Ryan Hutson singled to second but Kehagias second error of the inning, this time with a high throw to first, allowed Gibbs to score all the way from second base.
After falling behind 5-3 in the top of the eighth, North Carolina Central answered with five runs on three hits in the eighth. Simpson’s three-run home run off of the first pitch from Rattler reliever Blake Quillin proved to be the difference for final score of 8-5 in game one.
Just as they did in game one Florida A&M scored first in game two. The Rattlers scored a pair of runs on four hits in the first inning. Quillin and Robinson recorded back-to-back singles to lead off the game and Gibbs sac bunt back to the pitcher moved both runners up a base. With runners now on second and third, Kennedy singled through the right side to plate Quillin for the first run of the game and Birdsong followed with an RBI double off the fence in right to score Robinson.
The Rattlers pushed their lead to 5-0 with three more runs in the top of the third in what turned out to be more than the Eagles could overcome. Birdsong and Kennedy had back-to-back, one out, base hits and Kennedy later advanced to third on Hutson’s fly out to right. Kendall Weeks’ RBI single plated Kennedy for the third run of the game for FAMU. Peter Jackson continued the scoring with a two-run double to right, bringing home both Birdsong and Weeks for the second and third runs of the inning.
NCCU cut into the Florida A&M lead with three runs on three hits in the fifth for the score of 5-3. Kehagias opened the home half of the fifth drawing a four-pitch walk for the Eagles and scored all the way from first on Christian Triplett’s RBI double down the left line for the first run of game two for NCCU. Kory Wood followed with a triple into the left center gap to plate Triplett and Lee’s RBI ground out to second allowed Wood to score the third and final run of the game for Central.
FAMU increased its lead to what was the final score of 7-3 in game two with two more runs in the sixth inning. Jackson walked and Ferdinand Rondon singled to right with one out, before Quillin reached on a fielder’s choice to put Jackson on third as Rondon was out at second on the play. Jackson then came home to score on a wild pitch from Eagle reliever Morris Jones and an RBI single from Robinson later scored Quillin from second.
Central reliever Jake Russell (4-4) earned the game one win for the Eagles, while game two starter Terry McNabb (2-7) was tagged with the
Florida A&M and North Carolina Central will wrap up their regular season series on Sunday at 1:00 pm.
For complete story, visit www.famuathletics.com or www.nccueaglepride.com
Coppin State drops pair to Maryland Eastern Shore
ANNE ARUNDEL, Md. --- Jeffrey Fitch continued his recent hot-hitting by delivering three hits over two games during a pair of losses to Maryland-Eastern Shore in a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) doubleheader at Joe Cannon Stadium Saturday afternoon.
He had two hits and a walk in a 4-1 defeat in the opening game. Fitch singled in the second game during an 11-4 loss to the Hawks. The two losses dropped CSU’s overall record to 9-29 and 7-13 in the MEAC. UMES, which evened the season series at four apiece against the Eagles, raised their mark to 13-25 and 8-10.
During the opening game, two Eagles shined in defeat: Chris Godfrey, who slammed his second homer of the season, and starting pitcher Jhar Devilme, who tossed his first complete game and struck out a career-high eight batters.
The difference in the opener was UMES’ leading hitter Byron Campbell, who drove in all four runs with a two-out three-run homer to leftfield in the third and single in the eighth inning.
With hits in both games of the doubleheader, Fitch extended his season-best hitting streak to seven games. He has been a bright spot for Coppin State during a tough stretch of close losses and frustrating defeats. Fitch is hitting .400 (10-for-25) during his hitting streak. He has also settled in nicely in the leadoff hole for the Eagles creating plenty of havoc scoring four runs and driving in six runs. Fitch has raised his season average to .282, which is third on the team.
In the second game, David Hamlett paced Coppin State with two hits for his team-leading 10th multi-hit game of the season. Trailing 6-0 to the Hawks, the Eagles never went quietly and continued putting pressure on pitcher J.P. Black. Hamlett fueled a three-run third inning with a bases loaded two-run single. Hamlett leads CSU with 41 hits and a .295 batting average. He is second on the team behind Jack Kraft with 18 runs batted in.
John Walls earned a RBI the painful way by being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to pull the Eagles to within, 6-3. Darien Percell, who also had hits in each game, scored Coppin State’s final run of the contest when Fitch hustled down the first base line to beat a potential doubleplay.
The teams will conclude their season series with a single nine-inning contest Sunday beginning at 12:00 p.m.
For complete story, visit www.coppinstatesports.com or www.umeshawks.com
College of Charleston's Long-Ball Hitting Costs Bethune-Cookman in 4-3 Extra-Innings Loss
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Bethune-Cookman Wildcats (20-25) took another heartbreaker in game two of the series with College of Charleston (30-13), as a pair of home runs led to a 4-3 10th-inning loss after the Wildcats battled back to take a ninth-inning lead on Saturday at The Ballpark at Patriots Point.
The polar opposite of the series opener, the Cougars took the first inning advantage, as a two-out Carl Wise single turned into a run on designated hitter Nick Pappas’ RBI single through the right side.
Trailing 1-0, starter Keith Zuniga and the Wildcats settled in, holding the Cougars in check through three consecutive frames, allowing just one CofC runner in that span. The lead grew to 2-0 in the fifth as Ryan Welke came home on left fielder Bradley Jones’ RBI single in the fifth.
The Wildcats showed patience at the plate in the seventh to overcome the two-run deficit, loading the bags with Shaun McCarty reaching base on balls, Jake Welch as a hit batter and Josh Johnson on a single to right field. Left fielder Bryant Munoz chopped a hit to the right side, diving head-first into first to bring in McCarty, forcing a throwing error by second baseman Gunnar Heidt to tie the game at 2-2 on Welch’s score.
Facing CofC’s closer, Michael Hanzlik, Welch beat the throw on a 1-out single to shortstop and scored from second on Johnson’s RBI single to left field, pushing the Wildcats ahead 3-2.
After eight strong innings on the hill with four strikeouts, starter Keith Zuniga yielded to Christopher Waltermire, who struck out the first batter faced. The next batter, Brandon Glazer, proved more troublesome, fouling off five pitches of a nine-pitch at-bat before sending a home run beyond the left field wall to knot the score at three-all.
The Wildcats battled to reclaim the lead in the 10th, but ultimately left Eric Sams and Jordan Robinson stranded.
In the bottom half, CofC third baseman Blake Butler parked a leadoff first-pitch fastball over the center field wall, dealing the Wildcats their second straight extra-innings walk-off loss of the series.
Waltermire (1-5) takes the loss for the Wildcats, while Hanzlik (2-1) picked up the win for CofC, pitching two innings.
At the plate, Munoz and Johnson each hit 2-for-5 with one RBI to lead the Wildcats, while Welch scored two of B-CU’s three runs.
The Wildcats and Cougars return to The Ballpark at Patriots Point for the series finale on Sunday at noon.
For complete story, visit www.bcuathletics.com