Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box
NORFOLK, Va. — Norfolk State right hander Leon Schabacker (Virginia Beach, Va.) pitched his third shutout of the season in a 6-0 NSU win in the first game of the doubleheader, but Longwood rallied for a 9-4, extra-innings win in the nightcap as the Spartans and Lancers split a pair on Sunday at Marty L. Miller Field.
Schabacker (3-1) pitched a three-hitter in game 1 for his third shutout of the year in four starts. The senior did not walk a batter and tied his career high with nine strikeouts, which is a season high.
NSU took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. John Lynch (Newport News, Va.) led off with a double and scored on a two-out single by Chase Bailey (Roanoke, Va.).
NSU picked up four runs in the second to jump out to a 5-0 lead. John Boyd III (Hempstead, N.Y.) led off with a single, moved to second when Jerrod Farley (Chester, Va.) walked and went to third on a bunt single by Ryan Wiggins (Hayes, Va.). Billy Canady (Philadelphia, Pa.) scored Boyd from third with another infield single. Lynch forced in Farley with a groundout, and Wiggins scored on a sacrifice fly by Moriba George (St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.). Canady capped the rally with a straight steal of home with two outs.
The Spartans got their final run in the sixth on a two-out Longwood error.
In game 2, NSU rallied in the bottom of the sixth to force extra innings, but the Lancers responded with a five-run top of the eighth to take a 9-4 win.
Longwood scored four unearned runs in the first three innings as a result of three Spartan errors and a passed ball. Marcus Powell had the only RBI hit in those frames, a run-scoring single in the second.
NSU picked up a run in the second. Bailey, who singled to start the frame, scored on an RBI base hit by Farley.
The Spartans rallied to tie it with a three-run, four-hit bottom of the sixth. Chris Joyce (Chesapeake, Va.) knocked in Lynch with a single to bring the Spartans within 4-2. Two batters later, Boyd lined a two-run double down the left-field line to tie the game at 4-all.
Neither team scored in the seventh, sending the game into extra innings. Nick von Gersdorff hit a sacrifice fly to score Phil Cerreto (4-for-4) with the go-ahead run in the top of the eighth off Spartan reliever Quinn Bright (Virginia Beach, Va.). Robbie Bailey followed with a grand slam to left-center to give the Lancers a 9-4 lead.
That made a winner out of Lancers' reliever Rob Moody (1-1), who pitched the final 2.2 innings scoreless. Bright (1-2) took the loss for NSU, allowing five runs on three hits and two walks in one inning of relief.
Bailey was 4-for-6 and Boyd 4-for-7 on the day for the Spartans. Canady was 2-for-5 and swiped two bases.
NSU hosts VMI for a 3 p.m. game on Wednesday.
