Box Score
PRINCESS ANNE, Md. – Senior second baseman Anselmo Cantu (Virginia Beach, Va.) hit two home runs and knocked in three to help Norfolk State rally past Maryland Eastern Shore, 9-6, on Sunday afternoon at Hawks Stadium.
The Spartans (7-12, 4-4 MEAC) broke a three-game losing streak by pounding out six extra-base hits among their nine hits on Sunday.
After NSU led in both games only to get swept by UMES (8-23, 6-3) in Saturday's doubleheader, the Spartans returned the come-from-behind favor on Sunday. The Hawks scored two runs in each of the first three innings off NSU starter Jason Barker (Chesapeake, Va.) to take a 6-0 lead.
Franklin Armstrong hit a two-run single in the bottom of the first to get UMES on the board. In the second, Remo Orsini hit a run-scoring double and later scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.
The Hawks plated two more in the third. Elliott Armstrong hit an RBI double and Ben Vasko followed with an RBI triple to make it 6-0.
But Barker settled down, and NSU's bats heated up. John Lynch (Newport News, Va.) led off the top of the fourth with a single, the first hit of the game off Hawks' starter Karim Gonzalez. Lynch later scored on an RBI fielder's choice hit by Drew Suttmiller (Chesapeake, Va.).
NSU tied the game with five runs in the sixth. Cantu led off with a solo homer to right field off Gonzalez. After two walks and an error loaded the bases, Gonzalez was lifted in favor of reliever Brian White. Patrick Hall (Virginia Beach, Va.) greeted him with a two-run double to left field. Jerrod Farley (Chester, Va.), who had walked earlier in the frame, scored on a wild pitch. Hall then crossed home plate on an RBI double by Zaine Jack (Virginia Beach, Va.) to tie the game at 6-all.
Cantu led off the seventh by walking and stealing second base. After a single by Brandon Hairston (North Garden, Va.), Suttmiller grounded into a double play, but that allowed Cantu to score the go-ahead run.
The Spartans added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth. Chris Joyce (Chesapeake, Va.) led off with a double off UMES reliever Russell Deutschmann. Cantu followed with a mammoth homer to left field, providing the final margin of 9-6.
Barker and two relievers combined two hold the Hawks scoreless over the final six innings. Barker (2-2) got the win, allowing nine hits and six runs, four of them earned, in six innings. Jason Donovan (Virginia Beach, Va.) pitched a scoreless seventh inning, and Ryan Davis (Gilbert, Ariz.) pitched a scoreless eighth and ninth for his first career save.
Cantu was 2-for-4 with three runs scored and three RBI. He now has a team-high six homers this season, four in the past week. Hall was 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles, the first of his NSU career. Lynch also had two hits.
White (0-3) took the loss for the Hawks. He gave up four hits and two runs in two innings. Vasko led UMES with a 3-for-4 day at the plate, and Phil Vaughn was 2-for-4.
After playing their last seven games on the road, the Spartans return home for 10 of their next 11. The stretch begins Wednesday with a 3 p.m. doubleheader against Longwood at Marty L. Miller Field.
