NORFOLK, Va. – Chris Joyce (Chesapeake, Va.) knocked in four runs to help Norfolk State split a MEAC baseball doubleheader with North Carolina A&T on Saturday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field.
Joyce drove in three runs in support of winning pitcher Quinn Bright (Virginia Beach, Va.) as NSU (4-7, 1-1 MEAC) won the opener, 12-2 in seven innings. The Aggies (4-13, 1-1) bounced back with a Nick Rogers solo home run in the top of the seventh and final inning to take the nightcap, 4-3.
Game 1 was close until the fifth. NSU broke the game open with an eight-run five inning, highlighted by Joyce's two-run single and three Aggie errors, to take a 10-2 lead. NSU scored twice more in the bottom of the seventh to end the game via the 10-run rule.
Bright (2-1) pitched all seven innings for his second complete game of the year. He fanned five and allowed two earned runs. John Lynch (Newport News, Va.) was 2-for-3 with three runs scored and an RBI in the first game.
Game 2 was a pitcher's duel between two left-handers, A&T's Esterlin Paulino and NSU's Chase Davenport (Wooster, Ohio). The Aggies took a 1-0 lead in the third on doubles by C.J. Beatty and Lester Rivenbark. NSU tied the game in the bottom of the fourth on a long RBI double by Jermaine Berry (Suffolk, Va.).
The Aggies plated two more runs on Macklin's two-run double in the sixth off NSU reliever Ryan Shook (Virginia Beach, Va.). But the Spartans tied the game once more in the bottom of the sixth on an RBI single by Joyce and Berry's second run-scoring double of the day. Paulino, however, limited the damage to two runs, stranding the bases loaded. NSU had runners at second and third with no outs to start the inning, but Paulino got two strikeouts and a flyout to end the frame.
A&T then took the lead for good on Rogers' lead-off solo homer in the top of the seventh off Shook. Paulino retired the Spartans in order in the bottom of the seventh.
Shook (0-2) took the loss, allowing three runs (one earned) in 2.2 innings. Davenport allowed just one run in 4.1 innings, but got a no-decision.
Paulino (2-1) pitched all seven innings, allowing just four hits and striking out five.
Joyce (2-for-4) and Berry (2-for-3) accounted for all NSU's hits in the nightcap. Macklin was the only Aggie with two hits.
For the day, Joyce went 3-for-8 with four RBI. Jerrod Farley (Chester, Va.) stole four bases on the day, two in each game.
The teams conclude their three-game series tomorrow at noon.
