Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box
SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Norfolk State baseball team split a doubleheader against host Savannah State on Sunday at the HBCU Baseball Classic at Tiger Field. The Spartans (2-1) won game 1 by a score of 14-6, but lost game 2, 16-7.
The Spartan offense picked up where it left off on Saturday. After rapping out 16 hits in a 14-1 win over N.C. Central on Saturday, NSU pounded out 25 more hits on Sunday. John Lynch (Newport News, Va.), Juan Herrera (Santiago, Dominican Republic), Anselmo Cantu (Virginia Beach, Va.) and Chris Joyce (Chesapeake, Va.) each had four hits on the day, while Cantu and Jerrod Farley (Chester, Va.) each homered.
In game 1, the Spartans broke open a 2-2 game with four runs in the fourth and seven more in the fifth. In the fourth, Christopher Warren (Virginia Beach, Va.) had a two-run double and Farley an RBI single to highlight the inning. In the fifth, Cantu, Warren and Brandon Hairston (North Garden, Va.) hit run-scoring singles before Lynch capped the rally with an RBI triple, his second three-bagger of the game.
Chase Davenport (Wooster, Ohio) got the win in his NSU debut. He pitched 4.2 innings and allowed five runs, striking out three. Joyce was 3-for-4, while Hairston (2-for-4) and Warren (2-for-3) each drove in three runs.
Game 2 was a back-and-forth contest, but SSU blew it open with eight runs in the sixth inning.
SSU (3-1) scored three runs with the benefit of four walks by NSU starter Horace Smith III (Emporia, Va.) in the first inning. But NSU answered with Farley's two-run homer and Lynch's RBI triple, his third triple of the day, to tie it at 3-all in the top of the second.
Cantu belted a three-run homer in the third inning, his second career round-tripper.
But the Tigers took the lead for good at 8-7 with two runs in the fourth off Spartan reliever Jason Barker (Chesapeake, Va.). Dexter Kelley hit an RBI triple in the inning. The Tigers tacked on eight more in the sixth, as Kelley and Brett Pointer each knocked in a pair of runs.
Barker (0-1) took the loss, allowing four earned runs in 3.2 innings of relief. He fanned six. Kelley was 3-for-4 with three RBI and four runs scored in the nightcap, and Andrew Mendez also knocked in three.
For the weekend, NSU scored 35 runs on 41 hits. Cantu was 7-for-10 (.700), Herrera was 6-for-11 (.545) with five RBI and five runs scored, Joyce (.455) hit three doubles and Lynch (.500) tripled three times.
The Spartans host their home opener on Wednesday when Georgetown visits Marty L. Miller Field. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.
