Box Score

DOVER, Del. – Zach Adkins allowed just three hits and one run over six innings, and Tony Gatto drove in three runs to lead host Delaware State to an 11-1 win over Norfolk State, its second three-game MEAC sweep of the Spartans this year.

The Spartans (9-19, 5-6 MEAC) led 1-0 after the top of the second inning, but couldn't register a hit in the final five innings against DSU (18-13-1, 8-1) in losing their seventh straight game overall.

NSU got on the board first off Adkins in the top of the second. James Essex led off with the first of his three walks on the afternoon. Essex advanced to second on an Adkins wild pitch and scored on an RBI double by Ross Cardwell to give the Spartans a 1-0 advantage. But Adkins escaped further trouble by getting Rafael Colon to ground out with the bases loaded to end the inning.

It was all DSU after that, as the Hornets scored at least one run in their final six innings at bat. J.P. Frey tied the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the second before the Hornets broke on top with a five-run third. Gatto hit a two-run single to highlight the frame, which included three DSU base hits, two walks and two hit batters. Joey Babuca added a squeeze bunt for the Hornets in the inning.

Eddie Sorondo tacked on an RBI single in the fourth and Scott Davis hit a run-scoring double in the fifth. The Hornets scored twice in the sixth thanks in part to an NSU error. Davis would score the game's final run in the bottom of the seventh on another Spartan miscue, which made the score 11-1 and resulting in the game being called due to the 10-run rule.

Adkins improved to 3-1 on the year despite walking five batters. He fanned three. NSU's Jeff Di Fulgo (0-5) took the loss after yielding seven hits and six runs in 2.1 innings of work.

Frey, Cameron Cecil and Ryan Haas had two hits apiece for the Hornets, who outhit NSU 12-3. Cecil, Haas and Aaron Nardonne scored twice each.

Chase Kyriacou went 2-for-4 for NSU and Cardwell had the other Spartan hit.

The Spartans have off this week before returning to action next Saturday and Sunday in a three-game series at UMES.