Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Norfolk State used a nine-run sixth inning to break open game 1 and earn a 14-7 victory over host Florida A&M at Moore-Kittles Field, but the Rattlers took advantage of six Spartan errors to earn a 12-2 win in the nightcap on Saturday.
Anselmo Cantu (Virginia Beach, Va.), Drew Suttmiller (Chesapeake, Va.) and Brandon Hairston (North Garden, Va.) had three hits each on the day to pace the Spartans (17-20, 8-9 MEAC). Cantu hit his team-leading seventh homer of the year in the opener.
NSU never trailed in the first game. Jerrod Farley (Chester, Va.) got NSU on the board with an RBI double in the top of the fourth, and Jermaine Berry (Suffolk, Va.) added a run-scoring single later in the frame to give the Spartans a 2-0 lead.
FAMU (20-23, 9-7) cut its deficit in half on Stavone Martin's RBI single in the bottom of the fourth, but the Spartans exploded for nine runs in the sixth to put the game away. Suttmiller had the big hit in the frame, a one-out, three-run triple to right. Farley added a two-run double in the inning, while Cantu, Hairston, TiQuan Griffin (Florence, S.C.), and John Lynch (Newport News, Va.) each had an RBI single.
Cantu tacked on a three-run homer in the eighth inning. He finished the game 2-for-5 with four RBI, while Farley was 2-for-4, knocked in three runs and scored four times. All nine NSU starters had at least one hit.
Right hander Quinn Bright (Virginia Beach, Va.) (4-4) earned the win, giving up two earned runs in seven innings with four strikeouts.
In game 2, NSU could not overcome a season-high six errors. The miscues led to FAMU scoring nine unearned runs.
The Spartans led 2-0 after scoring twice in the second. Juan Herrera (Santiago, Dominican Republic) hit an RBI double and later scored on Griffin's two-out single. But FAMU scored four times in the bottom of the inning with the help of two Spartan errors. Another error helped FAMU stretch the lead to 5-2 in the third.
The Rattlers scored five runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth to end the game early due to the 10-run rule.
Derrick Shaw had three hits for FAMU and Chris Fullman hit a three-run homer for the Rattlers in the nightcap. Martin, who went 4-for-4 in the opener, added two more hits in the second game to finish the day 6-for-8.
Chase Davenport (Wooster, Ohio) (4-5) took the loss for NSU despite allowing just one earned run in 4.2 innings. He allowed eight hits and eight runs in all.
Elliott Bonner (2-1) pitched all six innings and allowed six hits to get the pitching win in game 2.
The teams conclude their series on Sunday at noon. It is the final regular-season MEAC game for the Spartans.
