NORFOLK, Va. – Senior utility man Brian Beard capped a red-hot week with six more hits Saturday in back of strong starting pitching from Alex and Jonathan Mauricio as the Spartans swept a doubleheader from Maryland Eastern Shore, 11-1 and 5-3 at Marty L. Miller Field.

The wins run NSU's win streak to a season-high six games. The first-place Spartans improved to 18-14, a season-best four games over .500, and 12-3 in the MEAC Northern Division.

Beard matched his career high with four hits, going 4-for-4 with two runs scored in the opener, which was stopped after seven innings due to the 10-run rule. He also went 2-for-3 in the nightcap.

Alex Mauricio (3-3) improved to 3-3 on the season with a complete-game effort in game 1. He struck out seven and yielded just five hits and one unearned run in seven innings.

Jonathan Mauricio (3-2) won his third straight start in game 2, pitching his second complete game of the season in the scheduled seven-inning affair. He allowed nine hits and three runs, two earned, with no walks and five strikeouts.

The Spartans started quickly in both games. In the opener, NSU struck for four runs on four hits in the bottom of the first. Roger Hall's two-run double highlighted the frame. Justin Burrell added an RBI double and Stephen Baughan a run-scoring single in the rally.

Beard singled and scored on Alex Mauricio's RBI double in the third, while Hall knocked in another run with a grounder.

The Spartans stretched their lead to 10-0 in the sixth with four more runs. Johnny Mayer had the big hit in the inning, a two-run single. Beard also hit an RBI single in the inning.

The Hawks (7-26, 5-10) scored their lone run on a two-out error on the Spartan outfield in the seventh inning, but NSU ended the contest early on Ismael Herrera's RBI single that scored Hall in the bottom of the seventh.

Hall drove in a season-high three runs in the opener, going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Alex Mauricio went 2-for-3 and scored twice, as did Beard and Burrell.

Zach Mills (1-3) took the loss in game 1 for the Hawks, allowing six hits and six runs in two innings of work.

The Spartans wasted little time in claiming the early lead in game 2. NSU sent 10 batters to the plate, scoring five runs off seven hits and one MDES error in the bottom of the first. Beard started the rally with an RBI double to score Tony Leite, who led off the inning with a single. Alex Mauricio and Hall added RBI singles and Burrell cracked a run-scoring triple to right-center. Baughan's sacrifice fly capped the scoring in the inning.

MDES starter Marty Tolson (1-5) didn't make it through the first, allowing seven hits and recording just a pair of outs. The Hawks got a solid relief outing from right hander Chris Melrath, who limited the damage in 5.1 scoreless innings of relief. 

The Hawks crept back into the game with a run in the fourth on Blake Coleman's RBI triple and two more in the fifth on four hits and two NSU errors to climb within 5-3. 

But Jonathan Mauricio kept MDES off the board in the sixth and seven innings to close out the win and clinch the weekend sweep for NSU. The Spartans improved to 6-0 on the year against MDES and increased their win streak in the series to 14 straight dating back to 2015.

Beard was 6-for-7 on the day and is 11-for-15 in his last four games. Burrell was 2-for-2 in game 2, finishing the day with a 3-for-5 effort. Hall and Alex Mauricio also had three hits each on the day, with Hall leading the Spartans with four batted in during the doubleheader.

NSU plays a cross-divisional game at North Carolina A&T at 5 p.m. Wednesday in Greensboro, N.C.