Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. – Designated hitter John Boyd III (Hempstead, N.Y.) was 3-for-5 with two doubles and four RBI to help Norfolk State win its sixth straight game, 13-9, over Virginia State on Thursday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field.
The Spartans (13-10) matched the 1999 team for the longest winning streak in the Division I era (since 1998). They did it by pounding out a season-high 16 hits, including a season-best eight extra-base hits.
NSU junior right hander Jason Barker (Chesapeake, Va.) was the beneficiary, as he picked up his first win as a Spartan. The second-year hurler allowed seven hits and four runs, three earned, in six innings. Barker (1-0) walked one and struck out a career-high six batters.
NSU scored twice in the second and third innings and three times in the fourth for a 7-3 lead. Boyd knocked in a run with a third-inning groundout, then had a two-run double in the fourth. Jerrod Farley (Chester, Va.) and Brandon Hairston (North Garden, Va.) also had RBI doubles during the early scoring barrage.
Boyd added another RBI double in the Spartans' four-run sixth. The frame was highlighted by back-to-back RBI triples by Chris Joyce (Chesapeake, Va.) and Farley which put NSU ahead 11-4.
VSU drew within 11-8 with a four-run eighth. Michael Buchanan had a two-run triple in the inning. But the Spartans erased any doubt by scoring twice more in the bottom of the eighth. Anselmo Cantu (Virginia Beach, Va.) blasted a two-run double, the Spartans' season-high sixth two-bagger of the game, for insurance.
Farley, Hairston, Brad Stephenson (Chesapeake, Va.) and Ranard Miller (Norfolk, Va.) added two hits each for NSU and 10 players had base hits in all. Stephenson doubled and scored three times, while Hairston and Farley each had two RBI and two runs scored.
Brandon Crump was 2-for-2 with two RBI for the Trojans (11-21). Joshua Cox also had two hits and Jeff Shelton hit a solo homer for VSU.
David Gibson (2-6) took the loss, allowing 12 hits and 11 runs, all earned, in 5.1 innings.
NSU hosts Maryland-Eastern Shore this Sunday and Monday for a three-game MEAC series. Due to the threat of inclement weather, the teams will not play Saturday as originally scheduled. They will play a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. on Sunday, and a single game at noon on Monday.
