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Baseball Matt Michalec, SID

Spartans Drop 2 to Gardner-Webb to Close Regular Season

Stephenson, Boyd, Joyce Knock in 3 Runs Each on Sunday

Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box

BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. — The powerful Gardner-Webb offense woke up on Sunday, pounding out 25 runs and 26 hits in a 14-9, 11-5 doubleheader sweep of Norfolk State at Varsity Field.

First baseman Bubbie Spake was the offensive star for the Bulldogs (25-26), knocking in six runs in the two games with three doubles and a home run.

In game 1, the Spartans (21-22) held a 6-2 lead after five innings, only to see the Bulldogs, ranked eighth in the nation in hits and 30th in batting average, score 11 times in the sixth and seventh innings combined. Spake had the big hit in each inning. He highlighted the Bulldogs' six-run sixth with a two-run double, and added another two-run double in the five-run seventh as GW jumped on top 13-6.

Brad Stephenson (Chesapeake, Va.), John Boyd III (Hempstead, N.Y.) and Chris Joyce (Chesapeake, Va.) knocked in two runs apiece for the Spartans in game 1. Boyd, Chase Bailey (Roanoke, Va.) and Anselmo Cantu (Virginia Beach, Va.) each had two hits.

Leon Schabacker (Virginia Beach, Va.) took the loss after allowing eight runs and eight hits over five-plus innings. Schabacker (5-6) walked two and struck out three.

Ty Bowles and Brock Miller had three hits apiece in the opener for GWU.

NSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning of game 2 as Stephenson hit an RBI double and Joyce an RBI single. But Spake hit a two-run homer in the Bulldogs' four-run bottom of the first off NSU starter Horace Smith III (Emporia, Va.), and GWU never trailed again.

Smith (1-2) was charged with the loss after yielding eight earned runs in 2.1 innings.

Moriba George (St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.) was 3-for-3 with three runs scored in the nightcap. He was 4-for-7 with five runs scored in the doubleheader. Brandon Hairston (North Garden, Va.) was 2-for-2 with an RBI in the second game.

Joyce, Stephenson and Boyd each had three RBI on the afternoon as the Spartans capped one of their finer offensive series of the season. NSU scored 23 runs on 33 hits in the three games.

The Spartans will be the No. 5 seed in this week's MEAC Baseball Tournament, which runs Thursday through Sunday at NSU's Marty L. Miller Field.

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