Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 NORFOLK, Va. – The Norfolk State baseball team took over sole possession of first place in the MEAC's Northern Division by sweeping a conference doubleheader from Maryland Eastern Shore on Saturday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field, winning the opener 1-0 and taking the nightcap, 7-3.

The Spartans (14-10, 11-3 MEAC) have now won eight games in a row, their longest winning streak since 2012.

In game one, Matt Outman (5-1) and Josh Vales combined to shut out the Hawks on nine hits. In game two, NSU broke a 3-all tie with four runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to put the Hawks (11-21, 9-5) away.

In the opener, Outman won his third straight decision by pitching 7.2 scoreless innings, and Vales picked up the final four outs for his third save of the season.

It didn't come easy though. UMES had runners at the corners with no outs in the top of the ninth, but couldn't push across the tying run. Connor Breslin led off with an infield single, and Isaiah Chambers followed with a bunt single to first that Vales threw wide of the bag, allowing Breslin to reach third.

But Vales buckled down. He struck out Jordan Martin for the first out. After walking Quenton Hamrick to load the bases, Vales got Mike Escanilla to hit into a fielder's choice grounder that resulted in a force out at home plate. Vales then fanned Joshua James on a high fastball on a 2-2 count to end it.

The Spartans wasted little time scoring the game's first and only run. Lead-off hitter Denathan Dukes singled to start the Spartans' bottom of the first inning. Angel Rosario sacrificed him to second, and Roger Hall drove him in with a single through the infield.

That would be all the scoring against two of the MEAC's top pitchers, UMES right hander Stinnett and NSU lefty Outman. Stinnett pitched all eight innings for UMES, allowing seven hits and the one run. He did not walk a batter and fanned five. 

Outman was just a little better, yielding seven hits and no runs in 7.2 innings. He walked two and fanned five. He has not allowed a run in his last two starts, spanning 14.2 innings.

Dukes went 3-for-4 with a run scored in the opener for the Spartans.

The Spartans again jumped out in front early of UMES in game two, scoring three times in the bottom of the first. Dukes led off with an infield single and advanced to second on a balk. UMES pitcher Tanner Whiteman then threw away Robbie Hiser's sacrifice bunt attempt, allowing Dukes to score. Hiser scored on an RBI single by Hall, and Hall later scored on an RBI grounder by Syeed Mahdi to make it 3-0.

The Hawks got a run back in the second on Escanilla's two-out RBI single, then tied it at 3-all in the fourth on Justin Dattilo's two-out, two-run single.

But NSU put together a four-run bottom of the sixth against UMES reliever Chipper Smith. Mahdi led off the inning with an infield single for the Spartans and advanced to second on a wild pitch. It appeared UMES had avoided trouble when Smith threw out Mahdi at third on Omar Hotusing's sacrifice bunt attempt. But a Hawk error put two runners on base, and Mikey Bruno drove them both in with a two-run triple into the right-field corner. Hiser and Hall tacked on RBI singles to complete the scoring in the inning.

That made a winner out of Spartan reliever Cooper Jones (1-1), who recorded the final two outs in the sixth and worked a scoreless seventh for his first win of the year. Jones struck out three batters.

Smith (3-3) was saddled with the loss, allowing four runs (three earned) in just one-third of an inning.

Rosario went 3-for-4 and tied an NSU single-game record with three doubles in game two. He also recorded a pair of outfield assists. Hall went 2-for-3 in game two and 3-for-7 with three RBI for the doubleheader. Dukes finished the day 4-for-6 with three runs scored on Saturday.

Skylar Murray went 4-for-7 on the day for UMES, and Escanilla had three hits.

The teams completed their three-game series tomorrow with a noon game at Marty L. Miller Field.