Game 1 Box
Game 2 Box
NORFOLK, Va. – Host Norfolk State split a non-conference baseball doubleheader with Mount St. Mary's on Saturday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field. The Spartans (4-4-1) took game one 2-1 behind a solid pitching effort, while the Mountaineers rallied with two runs in the top of the seventh inning to take game two, 5-4.
In game one, Jason Barker (Chesapeake, Va.) and Ryan Shook (Virginia Beach, Va.) combined to limit MSM (2-5) to five hits. Barker (1-1) earned his first win of the season, while Shook struck out four in 1.1 innings for the save.
The Mountaineers scored the game's first run in the third inning. Alex Andrews led with a double. He took third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Buddy Fields' groundout to give MSM a 1-0 lead.
The Spartans answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third. Drew Suttmiller (Chesapeake, Va.) led off with a double. Suttmiller reached third safely when MSM pitcher Brady Feigl fielded a sacrifice bunt by TiQuan Griffin (Florence, S.C.) and tried unsuccessfully to cut Suttmiller down at third. John Lynch (Newport News, Va.) then loaded the bases on his high chopper to third. After Suttmiller was forced at home, an infield single to shortstop by Chris Joyce (Chesapeake, Va.) tied the game, scoring Griffin from third.
Brandon Hairston (North Garden, Va.) knocked in the go-ahead run with a groundout to pitcher, allowing Lynch to score from third.
Barker and Shook did the rest. Barker scattered five hits in 5.2 innings, allowing just one earned run. He walked two and struck out three. Shook relieved Barker with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. After Shook walked his first batter to load the bases, the Spartans' reliever struck out Zach Helman to end the inning. Shook then struck out the side in the top of the seventh to earn his third save of the year.
NSU started off quickly in game two. John Rasberry (Suffolk, Va.) reached first on a one-out infield single in the bottom of the first. He then scored on Joyce's long RBI double down the left-field line. Joyce went to third on a double by Hairston, and scored on an RBI groundout off the bat of Blaze Zeilman (St. Augustine, Fla.).
MSM cut its deficit in half on Shane Eyler's RBI single in the top of the third, but NSU got two more in the bottom of the frame to go ahead 4-1. With two outs and none on, Joyce lined his second double of the day inside the first-base line. MSM starter Kent Worthington then intentionally walked Hairston, but Zeilman's RBI single scored Joyce to make it 3-1. Zeilman stole second, and Hairston then scored from third on a failed pickoff attempt when Worthington's throw to second bounced into center field.
But MSM rallied with two more in the fourth and two in the seventh. In the fourth, Flynn's two-run single brought the Mountaineers within 4-3. Then in the top of the seventh, Ryan Davis (Gilbert, Ariz.) walked Jacob Darr and Eyler to put runners on first and second. NSU reliever Ryan Wiggins (Hayes, Va.) walked Andrew Carron to load the bases, and Joe Kavanagh put MSM ahead with a two-run double to left-center.
Vincent Molesky (1-2) got the win for the Mountaineers with 1.1 scoreless innings. After retiring Joyce in the bottom of the seventh, Molesky gave way to Mike Matta, who retired Hairston and Zeilman to finish things off and earn the save.
Flynn was 3-for-4 with two RBI for MSM in game two. Eyler was 2-for-3.
Davis (1-1) took the loss for NSU. He was charged with both seventh-inning runs.
Rasberry and Joyce both went 2-for-4 in game two and both finished the day a combined 3-for-5. Hairston was 2-for-3 in the nightcap and Zeilman had his first two RBI of the season.
The teams conclude their series at 1 p.m. Sunday.
