Late Heroics Leads FAMU Over NCCU
DURHAM, N.C. – Dylan Dillard scored Alec Wong with an RBI triple in the top of the 10th inning to give Florida A&M (26-18, 16-5 MEAC) a 5-4 win over North Carolina Central (24-27, 11-13 MEAC) at the Durham Athletic Park on Sunday afternoon.
The FAMU pitching staff combined to hold NC Central hitless over the final 6.2 innings. Sawyer Betts came in to pitch in the fifth inning and went five scoreless innings of relief with no hits, one walk and three strikeouts to earn the win. Betts faced the minimum number of batters. Dillard finished the day 3-for-5 at the plate with a double, triple and four RBI.
Kendal Weeks sat the Eagles down in order in the bottom of the 10th inning to pick up his fifth save of the season. Offensively, Brian Davis also went 2-for-5 with a double, RBI and a run scored.
The Rattlers scored first with three runs in the third inning for a 3-0 lead. Marlon Gibbs and Wong drew back-to-back walks with two outs before Davis scored Gibbs from second with an RBI single to center field. Both runners then advanced on a wild pitch and Dillard drove in both Wong and Davis with a two-run single to left field.
NC Central answered to take the lead with four runs (two earned) in the bottom of the third inning for a 4-3 lead. Ellington Hopkins dropped in a bloop single to left field to lead off the inning. Trevor Theissen then reached on a fielding error by Ryan Hutson as runners were now on first and second with no outs. James Dey followed with a single to right field to load the bases and Hopkins scored from third on a groundout to second by Carlos Ortiz. Zachary Marszal plated Thiessen with an RBI single into center field and Dey came home on a single to right field by Tom Prospero that tied the game at 3-3. With runners on the corners, Danny Rodriguez came in for relief of starter Chase Jarrell. Marszal would score the then go-ahead run on a sac fly to left field from Conrad Kovalcik. Rodriguez was able to get Christian Triplett to end the inning on a groundout to short.
FAMU tied the game at 4-4 on an RBI double from Dillard in the fifth inning. Gibbs led off with a single into the right center gap and was later out at second as Wong reached on a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Wong moved to second on a balk and then came around to score the tying run on an RBI double into right center from Dillard.
In the 10th inning with one out, Wong doubled down the right line and Dillard crushed an RBI triple over the head of the centerfielder, Ortiz, to give the Rattlers a 5-4 lead.
Justice Sampson (3-3) suffered the loss after giving up the go-ahead run in the 10th inning. Sampson pitched 0.2 innings with one run on two hits.
For more information visit www.famuathletics.com or www.nccueaglepride.com.
Spartans Sweep Coppin State
DUNDALK, Md. - Brian Beard's two-out, two-run double in the top of the ninth inning lifted Norfolk State to a 5-4 win in game 1, and Alex Mauricio homered and drove in three runs in an 8-3 game 2 victory as the Spartans swept a road MEAC doubleheader from Coppin State on Sunday at the Community College of Baltimore County-Dundalk.
The Spartans (26-18, 18-5 MEAC) have won three in a row and six of their last seven. But it took a gritty ninth-inning rally to pull off the win in game 1 Sunday. CSU scored three runs, two unearned due to a Spartan error, to take a 4-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh. NSU went quietly in the eighth, but came back in the final inning. Mauricio led off with a single and a pair of walks loaded the bases to end the day for Eagle starter Devin Sutorius. With one out, Denathan Dukes knocked in a run with a fielder's choice for the second out of the inning.
Angel Rosario coaxed a walk from CSU reliever Andrew O'Dwyer, loading the bases for Beard. Beard lined a 1-0 pitch off CSU reliever Desean Rabb to left-center, scoring the tying and go-ahead runs.
Mauricio moved from third to the mound and held the Eagles at bay in the bottom of the ninth, notching his fifth save of the year.
Beard tied his career high with four RBI. His RBI single in the third gave NSU a 1-0 lead, and he put the Spartans up 2-1 with a fielder's choice grounder in the fifth. Beard, Dukes and Mauricio had two hits apiece in the opener.
Chase Anderson (5-2) picked up the win for NSU, pitching a scoreless eighth inning. Matt Outman, NSU's starter, took a no-decision after allowing four runs (two earned) in seven innings of work. He walked none and struck out five.
The Spartans jumped on CSU quickly in the nightcap, scoring three runs off Eagle starter Aaron Rea in the top of the first. Singles by Rosario and Beard got the inning started. Kyle Vaas walked with the bases loaded and Mauricio hit a two-run double to deep center for the first runs of the game.
George Dragon's RBI single got the Eagles on the board in the bottom of the third, but the Spartans pulled away with five runs in the fourth and fifth innings. Mauricio hit a towering home run down the left-field line in the fourth, his fifth homer of the year, for a 4-1 Spartan lead
In the fifth, NSU benefitted from two CSU errors to tack on four more runs. Syeed Mahdi capped the uprising with a two-run double, making it 8-1.
The Eagles added two runs in the seventh, but NSU starter Jonathan Mauricio got a fielder's choice to close out his sixth victory of the year. Mauricio tossed his third complete game of the season in the nightcap, scattering nine hits and allowing two earned runs in all seven innings of work. Mauricio (6-2) walked two and struck out four.
Alex Mauricio went 2-for-4 with three RBI in game 2 and was 4-for-7 for the day.
The teams conclude their series, and NSU's regular-season conference slate, at 1 p.m. Monday.
For more information visit www.nsuspartans.com or www.coppinstatesports.com.
Delaware State Splits Twinbill With UMES
DOVER, DE. --- Freshman Sean McGrath tossed a three-hit complete game and Austin Bentley drove in three runs to lead Delaware State to a 7-1 win over UMES in the second game of a MEAC North doubleheader at Soldier Field today. UMES won the first game 12-7 to prevent a three-game sweep for the Hornets in the weekend series.
In the seven-inning nightcap, McGrath did not allow a hit after the fourth inning, while striking out seven and walking one to notch his team-best fourth win this season.
The Hornets opened the game-two scoring with a run in the third inning. Darnel Maisonet singled with two outs and the bases empty, and Bentley followed with a double to the fence in left field to drive him home.
After the Hawks tied the score with a run in the fourth, Delaware Sate answered with five runs in the bottom of the inning to take control of the game. Bentley singled in his second and third runs of the game to give the Hornets a 6-1 lead, while Devin Beverly also had a run-scoring hit in the inning. Catcher Sam Barber singled in Maisonet with the Hornets’ final run in the sixth.
Maisonet was three-for-three at the plate and scored three runs in the nightcap. He had eight hits in 11 at bats (.727) in the series. Bentley and shortstop Chris Panzarella had two hits each in game two for the Hornets.
UMES starter Toby Hoskins (3-6) allowed six hits and three runs to take the loss.
In the opener, Tom Summers hit a towering two-run homer to snap a 6-6 tie in the fifth inning and reliever Jordan Turner threw five scoreless innings to propel the Hawks. UMES led 8-7 before adding four insurance runs in the sixth.
Conner Breslin was four-for-five with a run batted in to key the Hawks’ 13-hit attack. Jessey Valdez had three hits and a RBI, while Summers and Jamison Trower drove in two runs each for UMES.
Maisonet and Beverly had three hits in four at bats, and Barber was three-for-five at the plate in the opener for the Hornets.
Turner (2-0) allowed three hits and struck out five to earn the win for the Hawks. DSU reliever Darrien Ragins (2-5) gave up six runs, including Summers’ two-run homer, in 2.1 innings to take the loss. Delaware State’s four pitchers had a total of 15 strikeouts in the contest.
The Hornets are now 13-34 overall and 13-10 in the MEAC, while UMES is 16-32 and 7-16.
Delaware State will play its final home game of the season on Wed. (May 11) against George Washington. The first pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
For more information visit www.dsuhornets.com or www.umeshawks.com.