Box Score DURHAM, N.C. – Kyle Vaas hit two home runs and drove in a career-high seven runs to help Norfolk State snap a three-game losing streak with a 13-9 win at North Carolina Central on Wednesday night at the Durham Athletic Park.
Vaas hit a three-run homer in the first to help NSU (4-8) get out to an early 8-0 lead, then added another three-run blast in the eighth after NCCU (7-7) had cut its deficit to 10-9 the half-inning before.
Justin Lee (two-run homer) and
Syeed Mahdi (solo) also homered for the Spartans, who hit a season-best four home runs.
Vaas punctuated a four-run first inning for the Spartans with the first of his two mammoth shots over the right-field wall. Mahdi hit a solo shot, his second of the year, to start a three-run rally in the second for the Spartans. Vaas and
Tony Leite added RBI singles in the frame.
Alex Mauricio added an RBI single to give the Spartans an 8-0 edge in the top of the fourth.
NCCU slowly chipped away at its deficit, thanks in part to five NSU errors. The Eagles scored twice in the fourth and three times in the fifth, with NSU committing three errors in those two frames as NCCU closed the gap to 8-5.
The Spartans went ahead 10-5 on the first career homer for Lee, a two-run shot in the top of the seventh, but NCCU kept coming. The Eagles plated four runs in the bottom of the seventh thanks to five hits. Christian Triplett's two-out, two-run double brought NCCU within 10-9.
But Vaas gave NSU some insurance in a big way during the top of the eighth. After
Brian Beard and
Roger Hall hit consecutive one-out singles, NCCU brought in closer Andrew Vernon. Vaas greeted Vernon by sending his first-pitch fastball onto the roof of the warehouse well beyond the right-field wall at the Durham Athletic Park for his second three-run bomb of the game. It marked Vaas' first career multi-homer game and the second of the year for the Spartans, after Mauricio accomplished the feat on Feb. 22 against Lehigh.
Spartan reliever
Cooper Jones shut the door on the Eagles, striking out two batters over two scoreless innings to seal the win.
Chase Anderson (2-1) was credited with the win after pitching one inning in relief. He pitched the fifth inning and allowed three unearned runs.
Jonathan Mauricio got the start for NSU, allowing four hits and two runs while striking out four in four innings pitched. He took a no-decision.
Vaas was 3-for-5 and Hall 2-for-5 for NSU. Hall and
Brian Beard (1-for-3) scored three runs apiece.
Landon Fraley (0-1) took the loss for NCCU, allowing seven runs (five earned) in 1.2 innings pitched. Triplett, James Dey and Thomas Prospero had two hits apiece for the Eagles, who topped NSU 6-3 in Norfolk on March 2 in the teams' first meeting of the year.
The Spartans host Towson for a three-game series this Friday through Sunday at
Marty L. Miller Field.
