Bethune Sweeps North Carolina A&T State Behind Home Run Barrage
GREENSBORO, N.C. – Bethune-Cookman hit seven home runs on Sunday afternoon, powering themselves to a series sweep of North Carolina A&T State by a 23-2 decision in the series finale in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) baseball action at War Memorial Stadium. For the Wildcats, the win moves their streak to a season-best seven in a row.
Bethune-Cookman (23-22, 15-6 MEAC) produced a variety of season-high performances on Sunday. It was a season-high for runs (23), hits (21) and home runs (7).
The Wildcats began the game with four runs in the opening inning…and never looked back.
The win went to Donte’ Lindsay on the bump, earning his second victory in the least three starts for the Cleveland native. He ran his record for the year out to 4-3 with the decision. He worked five frames, allowing two runs and scattering four hits, a walk and a strikeout. For Lindsay, three of the four hits allowed came in the opening inning, as he settled and retired six of the next seven batters.
The loss went to North Carolina A&T State's Will Greene, dropping him at 1-8 on the campaign. He was tagged for eight runs on five hits, a walk and adding a strikeout in two innings of action.
Out of the bullpen for the Cats was Brandon Wilkes, tossing his first collegiate inning on the bump. He went a frame, walked one and fanned two. Juan Pizarro closed the game with a hit and a strikeout in the seventh inning.
The B-CU offense was paced by Danny Rodriguez’s perfect 4-for-4 day at the plate, delivering a pair of home runs and three RBIs. Michael Cruz added two home runs with a 3-for-5 effort at the dish, while Jameel Edney, Demetrius Sims and Sam Brooks all tallied three hits apiece as well.
Bethune-Cookman returns to the field Tuesday, May 3, traveling to face the top-ranked Florida Gators at McKethan Stadium in Gainesville, Florida. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m.
For more information visit www.bcuathletics.com or www.ncataggies.com
Savannah State Takes Series Finale With NCCU
SAVANNAH, Ga. – North Carolina Central University senior Andrew Vernon tossed his 71st strikeout of the season to tie the single-season record, but Trevor McKenna stole the show for Savannah State University in a 2-0 win on Sunday at Tiger Field.
McKenna put NCCU's (23-24, 10-11 MEAC) postseason berth on hold after his complete game performance. He scattered six hits and battled through two errors committed by his defense.
After a boatload of runs were scored in the doubleheader on Saturday, April 30 runs were scarce to find in the Sunday finale.
SSU (11-34, 6-12 MEAC) collected a run in the second inning on an RBI triple from Bernard Barnes and picked up its second on a single from Somto Egbuna.
McKenna didn't see much danger until the late innings when the Eagles put runners on the corners with two outs, but a groundout finished the frame to keep NCCU off the board.
The Eagles managed to get the winning run to the plate in the ninth inning and advanced runners to second and third with two outs. Once again, a groundout ended the inning and put a cap on the shutout performance.
NCCU will need to take at least one game from Florida A&M during this upcoming weekend back at home to secure a spot in the conference tournament.
For more information visit www.nccueaglepride.com or www.ssuathletics.com
Three Home Runs Not Enough as Florida A&M Drops 12-7 Decision at #4 Miami
CORAL GABLES, Fla. – Florida A&M (24-17, 14-4 MEAC) belted three home runs, but a late rally wasn’t enough as No. 4 Miami (33-8, 14-5 ACC) used two big innings to defeat FAMU by a score of 12-7 at Alex Rodriguez Park on Sunday afternoon. The Rattlers were within two runs at 5-3 with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning, but were unable to plate any runs. The Hurricanes then scored seven runs, including a grand slam from Randy Batista in the home half of the seventh inning, before FAMU tried to rally with four runs in the eighth inning for the final score of 12-7.
With three home runs today, the Rattlers have 32 on the season, which ties the most in a season (2004) in the last 13 years of FAMU baseball.
Five different Rattlers, Marlon Gibbs (3-for-4), Alec Wong (2-for-5), Jacky Miles, Jr. (2-for-4), Brian Davis (2-for-5) and AJ Elkins (2-for-4), had multi-hit performances. Miles, Jr. finished the day with two home runs, three runs scored and two RBI, while Gibbs also had two RBI.
Chase Jarrell (5-3) pitched 6.1 innings in the loss and allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits with two strikeouts and two walks.
With FAMU out of conference this weekend, NC Central’s 2-0 loss at Savannah State on Sunday secured a top-two seed for FAMU in the MEAC Southern Division.
Florida A&M will return to action on Tuesday against Alabama State at Moore-Kittles Field.
For more information visit www.famuathletics.com
NSU Splits with DSU – Clinches Northern Division Top Seed
NORFOLK, Va. - Justin Lee's two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the eighth inning was the go-ahead hit, and the Spartans clinched the MEAC's regular-season Northern Division title for the second straight year with a 5-2 win over Delaware State in game one of a doubleheader on Sunday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field.
The Hornets (11-33, 11-9 MEAC) topped NSU 10-7 in game two of the day's doubleheader, which was a makeup contest from a March 20 rainout. But the Spartans (23-18, 16-5 MEAC), who took three of four from DSU to win their sixth straight weekend series, are assured of the No. 1 seed from the league's northern division in the MEAC tournament later this month.
Held in check for most of Sunday's opener, the Spartan bats came to life with two outs in the eighth and NSU trailing 2-1. After DSU reliever Darrien Ragins set down the first two batters of the inning, Ragins walked three straight batters as a steady rain began to fall. Ragins was lifted in favor of Hunter McVey, and McVey was greeted by a two-run single by Lee that gave the Spartans the 3-2 lead. Denathan Dukes followed by lining a two-run triple into the right-field corner to increase the lead to 5-2.
Sophomore Alex Mauricio closed it out from there, working around one hit and one walk to pick up his third save of the season with a scoreless ninth inning. Michael Parmentier (1-3) earned the win in relief, retiring all four batters he faced with one strikeout in 1.1 innings pitched. Devin Hemmerich took a no-decision after allowing just five hits and two runs, one earned, with six strikeouts in 6.2 innings pitched.
In game two, NSU took a 2-0 lead in the second inning thanks to RBI singles by freshmen Chase Anderson and Kevin Granger. But the Hornets bounced back with four runs in the third, five in the fourth and one in the fifth to surge into the lead, 10-2.
NSU made it a game by scoring five times on its own in the fifth. Robbie Depp and Brian Beard hit RBI singles in the frame, while Tony Leite knocked in a run with a fielder's choice grounder and Ben Delgado hit a sacrifice fly to cut NSU's deficit to 10-7.
But Ragins pitched the last two innings without allowing a run to seal the win for the Hornets. Ragins struck out five to earn the save.
Austin Bentley knocked in five runs in game two for the Hornets.
Terry Godfrey (1-1) earned the win by pitching the first four innings for DSU. Cooper Jones (2-4) took the loss, allowing six hits and five earned runs to go with five strikeouts in 3.1 innings pitched.
Anderson, Granger and Roger Hall had two hits each in the nightcap. Hall doubled and scored a pair of runs, and finished the day with three hits in all.
The Spartans play their home finale on Wednesday against the University of Richmond at 6 p.m. NSU will recognize its five seniors and also sponsor its annual fundraiser benefitting the Food Bank of Southeastern Virginia and the Eastern Shore at the game.
For more information visit www.nsuspartans.com or www.dsuhornets.com