Game 1 Box l Game 2 Box
NORFOLK, Va. – Norfolk State designated hitter James Taylor hit a walk-off RBI single with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning to lead the Spartans to a 4-3 win in game one, but visiting North Carolina A&T bounced back with a 7-4 win in the nightcap as the teams split a MEAC baseball doubleheader on Saturday at Marty L. Miller Field.
NSU is now 8-15 on the year, 1-1 in the MEAC. The Aggies are 7-15, 1-1.
Game one was a pitcher's duel between two of the MEAC's top pitchers, NSU right hander Ryan Shook and A&T lefty Esterlin Paulino. Both pitchers gave up two runs in the first. A&T jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Carvell Copeland and Andre McKoy led off with back-to-back singles and scored on sacrifice fly balls by Xavier Macklin and Luke Tendler.
NSU answered with two runs in the bottom of the first. Taylor led off by reaching on an A&T error. John Lynch followed with a sharp single, and both runners moved up on an overthrow by the Aggie outfield. John Rasberry's singled down the left-field line to score both runners and tie the game.
NSU took a 3-2 lead in the fifth. Ryan Montgomery led off with a single and stole second base. He moved to third on a groundout and scored on Rasberry's two-out infield single.
The Aggies tied things at 3-all in the top of the eighth on Marquis Riley's two-out solo homer.
Montgomery got NSU's ninth-inning rally started with a one-out double, his career-high third hit of the game. He moved up to third on a fly out. With two outs, Taylor's liner on an 0-1 count fell into center field for the winning hit.
Ryan VanAssche (3-2) got the win for NSU, pitching a scoreless top of the ninth. It didn't come without some adventure. NSU dodged a bullet as Luke Tendler led off with a double to right-center. He tried to stretch it into a triple, but Spartan second baseman Sammy Serafine's relay throw from short center field was in time for Montgomery to tag Tendler out at third.
Both starting pitchers were effective, but neither factored into the decision. Shook pitched a career-high eight innings, allowing just six hits and three runs. He walked three and struck out five. He allowed just four hits after getting off to a rocky start in the top of the first.
Paulino struck out seven in 6.1 innings of work. He allowed three runs, one earned.
Rasberry was 2-for-3 with three RBI in the opener. Taylor went 2-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored, and Montgomery went 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Copeland had two hits for A&T.
In the nightcap, the Aggies again struck in their first at-bat. McKoy reached on an error and scored on Macklin's sacrifice fly.
NSU responded with two runs in the bottom of the first. Taylor led off with another base hit, and Lynch doubled him home. Montgomery knocked in Lynch with an RBI single to give NSU a 2-1 lead.
The Aggies made it 3-2 in the second as Dario Little scored on a wild pitch and Copeland hit a run-scoring infield single.
The Spartans tied it up in the bottom of the fifth. Taylor and Lynch were again in the middle of the rally, leading off with consecutive singles. They moved up on a sacrifice, and Taylor scored on Brandon Hairston's RBI groundout.
But A&T took advantage of an NSU error and a couple of walks to score three times in the top of the sixth. Mark Nales hit an RBI single for the tie-breaking hit. Later, Macklin walked with the bases loaded and McKoy came around on a passed ball to make it 6-3 in A&T's favor.
The Aggies' lead stretched to 7-3 in the seventh on a Stefan Jordan RBI double.
NSU made it interesting in the bottom of the seventh. Rasberry singled with two outs. A&T pitchers then issued three straight walks – two by starter Nick Oelker (3-2) and one by reliever Tyler Boone – to force in a run and cut NSU's deficit to 7-4. But Boone retired Cameron Parsons on a fielder's choice grounder to end it.
Oelker got the win by pitching 6.2 innings, allowing nine hits and four runs. Boone recorded a save by getting the final out. Richie Salter (1-1) got the loss for NSU, allowing two unearned runs in two-thirds of an inning.
Copeland, Jordan and McKoy had two hits each for the Aggies in the nightcap. Taylor, who went 4-for-8 on the day, went 2-for-3 and scored twice for the Spartans in the nightcap. Rasberry also had two hits in each game, finishing the day 4-for-6. Lynch added a pair of hits in game two, and Montgomery had four hits on the day.
The teams are scheduled to conclude their three-game series on Sunday at noon.
