Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box
NORFOLK, Va. – First baseman Brandon Hairston (North Garden, Va.) went a perfect 7-for-7 with six runs scored and five batted in to lead the Norfolk State baseball team to a 10-6, 11-6 sweep of Hofstra on Saturday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field.
The wins move NSU to .500 at 20-20 on the season. The Pride falls to 7-32.
In game 1, Hairston went 3-for-3 with a triple and three RBI, while catcher Chris Warren (Virginia Beach, Va.) was 2-for-4 with his first career home run for the Spartans.
Hofstra got on the board with two runs in the top of the second off NSU starter Quinn Bright (Virginia Beach, Va.). Anthony Nelson and Nick Panzarella each drove in a run with a single. But Warren tied the game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the second off Hofstra starter Bobby Neelon. Juan Herrera (Santiago, Dominican Republic) gave NSU the lead for good with an RBI single in the bottom of the third, making the score 3-2.
Hairston plated two runs with a two-out single in the bottom of the fourth. The Pride got within 5-4 in the top of the fifth, but the Spartans added three more in the sixth and two in the eighth for insurance. Jermaine Berry (Suffolk, Va.) had the key hit in the sixth, a two-run single. Hairston's RBI triple highlighted the eighth-inning rally.
Bright (5-4) earned his fifth win of the season. He scattered 10 hits over six innings while striking out seven. He allowed four runs, three of them earned. Ryan Shook (Virginia Beach, Va.) earned his first save of the season, pitching the final two innings scoreless.
Neelon (1-3) took the loss for Hofstra, yielding five hits and three runs in 2.1 innings.
The Spartans continued their offensive momentum into game 2, scoring eight runs in the first three innings off Pride starter Rob Kumbatovic (3-8). Kumbatovic retired the first two batters in the bottom of the first, but NSU exploded for a four-run, two-out rally. Hairston started it with a single. Anselmo Cantu (Virginia Beach, Va.), who missed the first game to attend graduation ceremonies, followed with an RBI triple to the wall in right. Jerrod Farley (Chester, Va.) kept the rally going with the first of his two hits in the nightcap, an RBI single through the left side.
A Hofstra error prolonged the inning and allowed Farley to score the third run. Cam Parsons (Chesapeake, Va.) plated the fourth run with a sharp single to right.
The Pride got two runs back in the top of the second on a Dion Pouncil double and a sacrifice fly by Adam Perlo. But NSU scored twice more in the bottom of the second and bottom of the third. In the second, John Lynch (Newport News, Va.) singled to lead off the frame. He stole second and third bases, and Hairston knocked him in with a single. Farley later added his second RBI single of the game, making it 6-2.
Hairston remained hot with an RBI double in the third and scored on Cantu's RBI single to right-center.
Hofstra made it interesting by scoring three times in the fourth and once in the fifth to get within 8-6. But the Spartans put it away with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth. Chris Joyce (Chesapeake, Va.) and Hairston hit consecutive singles to start the inning. Joyce scored the first run of the frame when Hofstra misplayed Hairston's base hit.
Farley knocked in his third run of the game with a sacrifice fly, and Pat Hall (Virginia Beach, Va.) capped the scoring with an RBI double.
Chase Davenport (Wooster, Ohio) improved to 5-5 with the pitching victory. He pitched 4.2 innings and allowed five earned runs. Jason Barker (Chesapeake, Va.) got his first save of the season by pitching the final 2.1 innings. He allowed three hits and no runs while fanning four.
Kumbatovic was tagged for 16 hits and 11 runs, nine earned, over four innings to fall to 3-8 on the year for the Pride.
Five Spartans had at least two hits in the nightcap, led by Hairston's 4-for-4 effort. He scored four runs in the game and now has hits in eight straight at-bats dating to a home run in his final at-bat at Florida A&M on Sunday. Cantu was 3-for-3 with two RBI and two runs, while Farley knocked in three and was 2-for-2.
Joyce was 4-for-10 with four runs scored in the two games. Drew Suttmiller (Chesapeake, Va.) and TiQuan Griffin (Florence, S.C.) both had three hits on the day. NSU finished the day with 31 hits, and each Spartan position player who saw action had at least one.
The Spartans conclude their regular season with a 1 p.m. game against Hofstra on Sunday. NSU will honor four seniors prior to the game.
