Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NORFOLK, Va. – Ross Cardwell went 2-for-3 with two runs batted in during the nightcap to help Norfolk State earn a split of a doubleheader with Rider on Sunday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field.

Rider took game one 5-2, but the Spartans (2-3) took the second game 6-4.

Cody Ellis led NSU with a 4-for-7 day, recording two hits in each end of the doubleheader.

Game one started as a pitcher's duel between NSU's Justin Bhatti and Rider's Tyler Smith. Neither team notched a hit until the top of the fourth inning, when Rider struck first with three two-out singles off Bhatti. The last of those, by Ken Kremer, scored Jerry Mulderig to give Rider a 1-0 lead.

NSU answered with a two-out single of its own in the bottom of the fourth off the bat of Cardwell, tying the score. Rider, however, went back on top, 2-1, in the top of the fifth. A two-out NSU error prolonged the inning for Justin Thomas, whose RBI single gave the Broncs a short-lived lead. But the Spartans again had a response in the bottom of the fifth as Mikey Bruno lined a one-out RBI double down the third-base line, scoring Ellis, who reached on an infield single.

But the Broncs kept coming, tacking on three more runs thanks to a pair of walks and RBI singles from Nick Crescenzo, Ian Lindsay and Eric Strano in the sixth.

Smith got the win for the Broncs, allowing five hits and two runs in six innings. He walked two and struck out five. Chris Taylor, David Hafer and Sean Kuberiet each pitched a scoreless inning of relief, with Kuberiet working a 1-2-3 ninth for the save.

Bhatti (0-2) took the loss, allowing four hits and three runs – two earned – in five-plus innings. He walked two and fanned six.

Ellis was 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, and Zach Markel was 2-for-3 for the Spartans. Mulderig (2-for-5) was the only Bronc with more than one hit.

Both teams started quickly in game two. Rider took advantage of an NSU error in the top of the first, scoring a pair of unearned runs off Spartan starter Richie Salter. Adam Wayman hit an RBI double and Greg Fazio a run-scoring triple.

But the Spartans came right back with four runs on five hits in the bottom of the first. Cardwell hit a tying two-run single, and both Tyon Ore and Ryan Montgomery hit two-out, run-scoring singles to give the Spartans their first lead of the day.

Both starting pitchers, Salter for NSU and Mike Murphy for Rider, settled down and matched scoreless frames in the second, third and fourth innings. But NSU added insurance with single runs in the fifth and sixth. In the fifth, Cardwell doubled to the track in right field and scored on Ellis' two-out single. In the sixth, Bruno walked to lead off the inning and scored on a Markel single.

NSU would need the runs, as a two-out error allowed a pair of Rider runs to score in the top of the seventh. But Spartan reliever Chris Horne got out trouble without further damage, securing the win.

Salter (1-1) got the win, allowing just the two unearned runs in 4.2 innings of work. He allowed six hits, walked none and struck out four. Horne pitched the final 2.1 innings to earn his first save of the year.

Cardwell, Ellis, Montgomery and Chase Kyriacou had two hits each in the nightcap for NSU.

The teams conclude their three-game series tomorrow with a noon contest.