DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central took charge early in Friday evening's game against Norfolk State – scoring 12 runs in the first two innings and cruising to an 18-5 victory inside the Durham Athletic Park.
The Eagles (20-28) batted around the order and scored six runs in both the first and second innings and led 12-2 after two complete frames.
NCCU sent 10 to the plate in the first with the first six reaching base safely. Carter Williams provided the game's first run with one of his three hits, which matched the game high. All told, NCCU accumulated 17 hits on Friday with four players registering three each.
The Spartans (22-23) got a pair of runs back in the top of the second on the strength of doubles from
Stephen Baughan and
Nick Wimmers. Baughan laced the ball down the line in left field to lead off the inning and moved to third following Wimmers' two-base hit down the opposite line.
A wild pitch scored Baughan and moved Wimmers up to third base, where he scored on a sacrifice fly from
Adam Collins.
The bottom of the second proved to be a repeat of the last half of the first as the Eagles batted around and plated six more runs.
Chase Anderson, who came in relief to get the Spartans out of the first inning, retired the first batter in the second before loading the bases without recording another out. Vinny Bailey started the scoring in the frame on a hard-hit ball that deflected off Anderson and caromed into foul territory.
The top of the third showed promise, but NSU stranded two runners in scoring position.
Justin Hayes hit a one-out infield single to first and promptly stole second before
Alsander Womack worked a walk. Both runners moved up 90 feet but were left there after Baughan flew out to right to end the frame.
Tyrin Everette entered the game in the bottom of the third and blunted the Eagles' offense. The redshirt-sophomore allowed only three baserunners in his first four innings before encountering trouble in the seventh.
Everette stranded a single baserunner in both the third and fourth innings before pitching a clean bottom of the fifth, but the Spartans did not fare any better when it was their turn to bat. NSU went down in order in the top of the fourth and failed to capitalize on a leadoff error in the next frame – grounding into a double play during the next at-bat.
Caleb Ward put a jolt into the game with a leadoff blast over the wall in the right-center gap in the top of the sixth, but NSU could not rally around Ward's homer and recorded three-straight outs to end the frame.
Ward and the top-half of the Spartans' batting order did their share on Friday – logging six of NSU's nine hits with three runs scored and two driven in. Hayes, Ward and Baughan combined to go 6-for-12 with two hits apiece.
A tiring Everette could not record an out in the bottom of the seventh, facing two batters before seeing his outing come to a close. After
Jalen Rudolph issued a walk, the Eagles had the bases loaded with no outs. Williams drove home two more runners with a single through the hole at second base, and NCCU was well on its way to another big inning. When the dust settled, the Eagles sent 13 batters to the plate in the seventh and tacked on six more runs.
Ward showcased his power once more in the top of the eight with a two-out double into left-center. Baughan, the next batter, singled into center to drive in his teammate and make the score 18-4.
NSU turned to the twin tandem of
Ty Hanchey and
Trent Hanchey for its last run in the ninth inning. With one out, Ty ripped a double into right only to score on the next at-bat when Trent tripled down the line in left field.
Andrew King (2-0) picked up the win for NCCU after allowing two runs on three hits and recording the first eight outs of the game. Chris Kernen logged six innings of work for the Eagles and was responsible for three runs on six hits.
James Deloatch (0-4) took the loss for the Spartans.
NSU concludes the 2019 regular season with another game against the Eagles on Saturday. The start time for that game is set for 1 p.m.
