Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NORFOLK, Va. – Junior right hander Corey Haynes struck out the only two hitters he faced with the bases loaded in the top of the seventh inning to help Norfolk State hold off Delaware State 7-5 in the nightcap, earning a split of a lengthy MEAC Northern Division doubleheader on Saturday at Marty L. Miller Field.
 
The Hornets (13-10, 4-4 MEAC) rallied from deficits of five and four runs to take the opener, 14-10, from the Spartans (9-17, 6-4), who maintain their slim lead over DSU and Coppin State (5-5) in the division.

Chase Kyriacou and Justin Burrell had four hits apiece during the doubleheader, while Burrell and Ross Cardwell both drove in four runs on the day for NSU.
 
DSU seemed to have an answer for every NSU scoring rally, except the last one in the nightcap of a doubleheader that spanned nearly seven hours of the day. NSU led 4-0 early in the nightcap. Cardwell knocked in Justin Lee with a groundout in the first and the Spartans put together a three-run second inning. The frame included RBI singles by Omar Hotusing and Andre' Moore and a run-scoring groundout by Lee.

But DSU got three back thanks to two errors and an RBI single by Cameron Onderko in the top of the third, cutting the NSU lead to 4-3.
 
Burrell had one of the key hits in the game, though, hitting a two-run single to right-center in the bottom of the third to make it 6-3.
 
Both teams scored once in the fifth, DSU on Aaron Nardone's sacrifice fly and NSU on a Burrell sacrifice fly.
 
That set the stage for a wild top of the seventh inning. Jeff Di Fulgo, who pitched out of the Spartan bullpen in both games, was strong through two frames of the nightcap but tired in the seventh, walking Charles Dailey and Onderko to lead off the seventh. He was replaced by Jonathan Mauricio, who got one out before surrendering an RBI double to Nardone to trim the Spartans' lead to 7-5. Mauricio then issued a walk to Mike Alexander to load the bases.

NSU turned to Haynes, the fifth pitcher of the ballgame for the Spartans. He fanned Ron Farley on a 3-2 curve ball out of the zone, then struck out Hassan Evans swinging on an inside fastball to earn the save and close out the win.

Justin Bhatti (2-4), who also pitched in relief in both games, earned the win in game 2 with two-thirds of an inning of work. The save was the first in the NSU career of Haynes.

Eric Sharff (2-2) took the loss for DSU, allowing six runs in 2.2 innings of work.

Kyriacou was 2-for-3 and scored twice in game 2, while Burrell was 1-for-2 with a career-high three RBI.

Game 1 last just shy of four hours (3:52) and saw 31 hits, 24 runs, six errors and eight pitchers used. After not holding a lead for the first eight innings, the Hornets scored four times in the top of the ninth inning to put away NSU. David Kimbrough led off with a single and scored on a long RBI double by Dailey. Pinch hitter Farley singled in Dailey on the next pitch, and Nardone's sacrifice fly scored pinch runner Justin Allen to make it 13-10. DSU tacked on one more on an errant pickoff throw by NSU's Cooper Jones.

It was the Spartans who had the bats going early, scoring five times in the first two innings. Cardwell got NSU on the board first with a long two-out double to score Lee. The next batter, Zach Markel, hit a long drive deep into the right-center gap that DSU right fielder Evans dropped, allowing Cardwell to score. Kyriacou followed with a drive to almost the exact same spot but this one found the grass on its own for another run-scoring double.

In the second, Cardwell and Markel both hit two-out RBI singles to extend the lead to 5-0.

But the Hornets broke loose against NSU starter Matt Outman in the top of the third. Outman walked three in the frame, the last of which forced in DSU's first run. Evans lined a two-run double and Eddie Sorondo stroked a two-run single to tie the game.

NSU regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth on Cardwell's third RBI of the game, coming via a groundout to plate Burrell. After DSU tied things with a single tally in the top of the fifth, Burrell also played a key role in helping the Spartans retake the lead once again. His two-out RBI single scored Kyriacou with the go-ahead run, keying a four-run innings for the Spartans. DSU also made two two-out errors to allow three more runs to score as NSU extended its lead to 10-6.
 
But the Hornets again had the answer. They cut their deficit in half with two-out RBI from Kimbrough and Dailey in the top of the seventh, then tied it on Alexander's two-run single in the eighth.

Jones (0-3) took the loss, allowing four runs (two earned) in two innings of work. DSU's Harry Thomas (2-1) earned the win with 1.2 scoreless innings of relief.

Burrell matched his career high in hits, going 3-for-4 with three RBI in the opener. He was 4-for-6 on the day. Lee was 2-for-4 with three runs scored, while Kyriacou (2-for-4) and Cardwell (2-for-5, three RBI) also had multi-hit games in the first contest.

Kimbrough was 4-for-5 and Cecil 3-for-5 in the opener for DSU.

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