Game 1 Box Score  l  Game 2 Box Score

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Sophomore third baseman Ryan Montgomery went 6-for-8 with three RBI to help the Spartan baseball team split a MEAC doubleheader with Florida A&M on Saturday at Moore-Kittles Field. FAMU took game one, 6-4, but the Spartans took the nightcap, 9-8.

NSU (18-26, 8-8 MEAC) out-hit the Rattlers (17-33, 6-11) 16-9 in game one, but stranded 11 runners on base.

The Spartans led 2-0 after four innings as John Rasberry hit an RBI single in the first and John Lynch added another in the fourth.

But FAMU answered with a four-run fifth. The Rattlers loaded the bases with two infield hits and a hit batter by NSU starter Ryan VanAssche (5-6). An RBI groundout got FAMU on the board. An NSU error allowed the tying run to score, then two runs scored on an Adrian Kilpatrick single.

NSU managed to push across single runs in the sixth and seventh to tie it. Montgomery singled and scored on an error in the sixth, then hit an RBI single to tie it in the seventh.

But the Rattlers scored twice in the bottom of the seventh. Tobi Adeyemi hit a run-scoring single, then scored on another Spartan miscue to make it 6-4.

NSU put two runners on base in the ninth, but FAMU turned a game-ending double play to end it.
VanAssche was again a hard-luck loser for NSU. He allowed just two earned runs in seven innings, walked one and struck out five. He lowered his team-leading ERA to 2.70 in the process.

Adrian Talton got the win for FAMU with 1.2 scoreless innings of relief. Stephen Dollar earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning.

Montgomery was 4-for-4 and Brandon Hairston went 4-for-5 with a double and a triple. Lynch and Rasberry added two hits apiece for the Spartans, while Adeyemi and Justin Abney had two each for FAMU.

The Spartans got off to a quick start in the nightcap, as well, but this time held on for the win.
Both teams scored twice in the first. Lynch and Rasberry singled to start the game off, and both moved up on a Hairston groundout. Lynch scored on a Jose Linton wild pitch, and Montgomery knocked in Rasberry with a single. Abney, however, tied it with a two-run single off Jordan Egan in the bottom of the inning.

The Spartans, though, erupted for five runs in the third. Sammy Serafine hit an RBI double, while Tyon Ore and Chris Joyce added RBI singles. Joyce scored on a wild pitch later in the frame before Chris Warren capped the rally with a sacrifice fly.

Jarryd Reid hit an RBI triple and scored on Jimmy Terrell's groundout in the bottom of the third for the Rattlers. But in the fourth, Hairston singled, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball to make it 8-4 in NSU's favor.

The Rattlers, however, weren't done. Jimmy Terrell hit a two-run single in the fifth to bring his team within 8-6. Montgomery's RBI single made it 9-6 in the top of the sixth, but FAMU got within a run in the bottom of the frame. Reid's infield single made it 9-7, and Terrell scored on an NSU error to cut the Spartans' lead to 9-8.

But NSU reliever Ryan Shook pitched around an infield hit in the bottom of the seventh for his first save of the season.

Egan (3-2) got the win with five innings of work. He allowed seven hits and five earned runs while fanning five.  Linton (2-7) took the loss after yielding seven earned runs in three innings for FAMU.
Warren matched his season high with three hits for the Spartans. Serafine, Ore and Montgomery chipped in with two apiece. Reid and Kilpatrick had two hits each for the Rattlers.

The teams conclude their series with a single game starting at noon on Sunday.