Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. – Chris Joyce (Chesapeake, Va.) drove in a career-high four runs in support of winning pitcher Joey Seal (Newport News, Va.) as the Spartans won game 1 7-2, but Florida A&M rallied behind pitcher Cirilo Manego for a 4-0 win in game 2 on Saturday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field.
NSU stands at 19-19 overall, 6-10 in the MEAC after the doubleheader split. The Rattlers are 18-19, 10-6.
In game 1, Joyce hit a three-run triple in a four-run first, and John Boyd III (Hempstead, N.Y.) added a 2-for-3 effort for the Spartans. NSU also took advantage of six walks from FAMU starter Miguel Parga (5-2).
Seal improved to 6-3 on the season after pitching seven effective innings. He scattered seven hits and four walks, striking out two.
John Lynch (Newport News, Va.) struck out to lead off the game, but reached first on a wild pitch. He later scored on a balk. Parga then walked the bases loaded before Joyce cleared them with a three-run triple to right.
Joyce also drove in a run with a fielder's choice in the third. TiQuan Griffin (Florence, S.C.) scored a run in the fourth when he stole second base and scored on a pair of Rattler errors. Boyd capped the Spartans' scoring in the fifth with a long double off the wall in left center, scoring Brad Stephenson (Chesapeake, Va.) for the third time on the afternoon.
FAMU scored its runs in the first and ninth innings on a pair of RBI singles by Darryl Evans.
Parga took the loss, allowing just five hits and seven runs, six earned, in eight innings.
In game 2, Manego (3-4) tossed a five-hit shutout, striking out eight. He walked three batters.
The Rattlers scored twice in the second off NSU starter Leon Schabacker (Virginia Beach, Va.). Jared Jeffries led off with a triple and scored on Thaddous McBurrows' sacrifice fly. Adam Gordon later singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch. With two outs, Steve Cunningham (2-for-3) reached on a bunt single, and Gordon, hustling all the way, scored from second for a 2-0 FAMU lead.
The Rattlers added a pair of runs in the fifth on another RBI single by Evans and a sac fly by Chris Fullman.
NSU had a chance to make it interesting in the fifth, loading the bases with one out. But Manego struck out Boyd and Brandon Hairston (North Garden, Va.) to escape the frame unscathed.
Schabacker (5-5) took the loss, allowing four runs, three earned, and seven hits in 5.2 innings pitched. He walked two and fanned four.
Stephenson went 3-for-6 on the day.
The teams wrap up their series on Sunday at noon.
