Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NORFOLK, Va. – Three Norfolk State pitchers combined to limit Delaware State to just one run after the Hornet bats exploded in the first game, and the Spartan baseball team earned a doubleheader split with the Hornets on Saturday afternoon in the first conference games of the year.

DSU's offense came alive in the first game at Marty L. Miller Field, as the Hornets cruised to a 12-1 victory. Sophomore Matt Outman then pitched four solid innings in the second game before giving way to two relievers in a 2-1 win.

Outman (2-1) gave up just three hits in those four innings of work in game 2, and freshman Devin Hemmerich and junior Jeff Di Fulgo worked out of a jam in the seventh to preserve the win.

NSU (4-14, 1-1 MEAC) got on the board first. With a runner on in the opening frame, senior Zach Markel lined one past the DSU first baseman, allowing sophomore Andre' Moore to head to third. Sophomore Kyle Vaas followed that up with a deep shot to right to score Moore on the sac fly.

The Spartans manufactured another run in the sixth, which ended up being the winning run. Junior Justin Lee led off the inning with a double to right center and moved up on a sac bunt by Moore. One out later, DSU (9-5, 1-1) pitcher George Michael threw one to the backstop to make it 2-0 in favor of NSU.

Hemmerich ran into some trouble in the seventh, though. Two straight singles with one out, the latter a high fly ball down the right field line by Hassan Evans, put runners on the corners. Di Fulgo came in, and Ron Farley hit a high chopper to second that prevented NSU from pulling a game-ending double play.

Cameron Cecil hit a slow roller to third that a sliding Di Fulgo was not able to get to, and then a wild pitch put runners in scoring position. Facing a do-or-die situation, Di Fulgo got David Kimbrough to hit a weak chopper to third to end the game.

Michael (2-1) suffered the loss for DSU despite allowing just two hits in six innings.

Delaware State quickly jumped ahead in the top of the first in game 1, scoring five runs, all with two outs. Farley singled to plate the first run, and Evans followed with a double to the gap in left center to plate two more. Another single back up the middle made it 4-0, and the last run came home on an error on the Spartans.

After an RBI single in the second, DSU tallied four more in the third. Kimbrough hit a slower roller to short, and Charles Dailey never stopped as he rounded third and scored the second run of the play. A little later, Farley hit a two-run single into right center.

The Hornets tacked on single runs in the fourth and sixth innings, and NSU got on the board in the seventh. Markel and senior Cody Ellis singled in between a DSU error, loading the bases in the process. Vaas flied out to deep right field to plate Markel, but Hornet starter Matt McClain struck out the next two batters for the final outs of the game.

In a complete game effort, McClain (3-0) gave up six hits and struck out five while allowing just the one earned run.

Farley hit 2-for-4 with three RBI, while Evans batted 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Kimbrough scored twice and knocked in a pair as well.

Lee and Markel each had two hits on the day.

The two teams will finish out the series Sunday at noon.