Box Score
NORFOLK, Va. – John Lynch hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to break a 4-all tie, and Blaze Zeilman sealed the deal with a titanic grand slam over the right-field fence to lift Norfolk State to a 9-4 win over Villanova on Saturday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field.
With the game tied in the bottom of the eighth, NSU second baseman Sammy Serafine led off the inning by drawing a walk from Villanova reliever Julian Diaz (0-1). Serafine advanced to second on a sacrifice. He then beat the throw to third base on a fielder's choice grounder hit by Cameron Parsons, and James Taylor followed with a walk to load the bases with one out.
Lynch followed with his second hit of the game, a sharply-hit single through the left side to score Serafine. Zeilman punctuated the inning by smacking Diaz's first pitch well over the fence in right for his second career home run, and first at Marty L. Miller Field.
That was more than enough for Spartan reliever Ryan VanAssche (1-0). He earned the win by pitching the final four innings without allowing a run. He yielded three hits, walked one and fanned four.
Villanova (1-1) led much of the game, but couldn't shake the pesky Spartans (1-1). VU took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first on doubles by Andrew Geenen and Matt Fleishman. The Wildcats padded their lead to 3-0 in the top of the fourth. Fleishman drove in Dain Hall with a single. Later, Fleishman stole third and scored on a Spartan throwing error.
The Spartans got on the board in the bottom of the fourth. Chris Joyce led off with a single and scored on a long double by John Rasberry. Rasberry came around to score on a double play grounder to cut the Wildcats' lead to 3-2, and Taylor tied the game with a two-out RBI single, scoring Serafine.
The Wildcats would reclaim the lead in the top of the fifth. Marlon Calbi led off with a walk and advanced to third on a sacrifice and an NSU error. Geenen knocked him in with a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3.
Joyce and Rasberry were at it again in the bottom of the seventh. Joyce doubled with two outs and came around to score on Rasberry's RBI single to right field, tying the game at 4-all and setting the stage for the conclusion.
Rasberry went 3-for-5 with two RBI, and Joyce and Lynch both went 2-for-5 for the second straight day. Starting pitcher Jordan Egan pitched well, but did not factor into the decision. He allowed three hits and four runs, two earned, with four strikeouts over five innings.
Fleishman had three of the Wildcats' six hits.
The teams conclude their series on Sunday with another 1 p.m. game.
