Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State baseball team scored the tying and winning runs on consecutive two-out Savannah State errors in the bottom of the ninth inning on Sunday, giving the Spartans an 11-10 victory and a sweep of the teams' three-game weekend series at
Marty L. Miller Field.
The win was the fifth in the last six games for NSU (16-18), which rallied for final at-bat wins in two of the three games this weekend against the Tigers (23-24).
SSU scored two runs off NSU reliever Cameron Parsons (Virginia Beach, Va.) in the top of the eighth inning to take a 10-9 lead. Johnathan Ross, who was 3-for-5, hit an RBI single to tie the game, and Tristan Smith scored from third on a bases-loaded balk by Shook.
But the Spartans rallied, as they did all weekend. Jerrod Farley (Chester, Va.), who led NSU at the plate Sunday by going 3-for-5 with three RBI, led off the bottom of the ninth with an infield single off Tiger reliever Matthew Oglesby. Farley went to second on a sacrifice by Anselmo Cantu (Virginia Beach, Va.) and to third on a groundout by Chris Warren (Virginia Beach, Va.).
With two outs, Spartan shortstop Drew Suttmiller (Chesapeake, Va.) hit a high chopper to Tiger first baseman Matthew Nowacki. But Nowacki's throw to Oglesby covering at first was high and bounced into the NSU dugout, allowing Farley to score the tying run and sending Suttmiller to second.
TiQuan Griffin (Florence, S.C.) followed with a slow roller to shortstop Julius Green, and his throw also sailed past first base, allowing Suttmiller to score all the way from second with the winning run.
It didn't appear as though it would be NSU's day early on. The Tigers got out to a 5-0 lead off NSU starter Jason Barker (Chesapeake, Va.) after their first two times to bat. Ross and Brett Pointer hit run-scoring singles in a three-run first inning, which also included a pair of costly NSU errors. Dondregius Jackson then hit an RBI single in the second inning and scored on Barker's balk to make it 5-0.
NSU plated four runs in the bottom of the second to start its rally. Farley got it started with an RBI triple off the wall in right field, and subsequently scored on Cantu's RBI groundout. After singles by Ryan Wiggins (Hayes, Va.) and Griffin, John Lynch (Newport News, Va.) followed with a two-out, wind-blown popup that eluded the SSU defense for the third run in the inning. Lynch and Griffin then executed a double steal, with Griffin swiping home for the fourth run of the frame.
The Spartans tied the game in the fifth on an RBI single by Chris Joyce (Chesapeake, Va.). But SSU made it 8-5 in the sixth, as Jackson's RBI groundout and Oglesby's two-run homer gave the Tigers a three-run cushion.
NSU the enjoyed another four-run outburst in the bottom of the seventh to take a short-lived 9-8 advantage. Joyce stroked another RBI single, and Farley tied the game with a two-run double down the left-field line. Warren provided the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly, scoring Farley from third base.
Shook (2-2) earned his second relief win of the series by pitching two innings and striking out three hitters. Oglesby, who started the game at shortstop before moving to the mound, suffered the loss to drop to 2-3. He allowed a pair of unearned runs in one inning of work.
Farley capped a torrid week at the plate with his 3-for-5 day. He also led NSU with three runs scored. Griffin enjoyed his first career three-hit game, finishing 3-for-5 with a pair of stolen bases. Wiggins, Joyce and Lynch added two hits apiece.
In the wild three-game series, the teams combined for 56 runs, 81 hits and 17 errors.
NSU travels to Washington, D.C., for an afternoon game at Georgetown on Tuesday. The Hoyas won the teams' earlier meeting this season, 10-4, on Feb. 25 in Norfolk.
