DURHAM, N.C. – A quiet first act gave way to an exciting finish in Saturday's regular season finale at North Carolina Central. The Spartans (22-24) and Eagles (21-28) combined for seven runs after the middle of the sixth inning with NSU tying the game with a three-run outburst in the top of the seventh before NCCU regained the lead for good in the bottom of the frame inside Durham Athletic Park.
With Friday's game that saw a combined 23 runs and 26 hits still a recent memory, both pitching staffs looked dominant through the first three innings.
NSU starter
Ridge Walker scattered two hits and a hit batsmen through his first three innings and worked a perfect frame in the second. Walker's counterpart, Austin Vernon, fared even better and did not allow a base hit until there were two outs in the bottom of the third.
Both teams were presented with opportunities to plate runs in the fourth. The Eagles jumped at the opportunity while the Spartans left the bases loaded without scoring a run.
Alsander Womack led off the top of the fourth with the first of his two hits on the day. Following a flyout,
Stephen Baughan and
Korey Singh each earned free passes to load the bases. With the bags full and only one out, NSU could not get the ball out of the infield as Vernon induced two weak fly balls to escape the jam.
Walker would not be so lucky in the bottom of the fourth as NCCU hung two runs on the board. A leadoff single and a double from Vinny Bailey put two runners in scoring position with no outs. After a hard-hit lineout to the shortstop, the Eagles executed a squeeze play to perfection with Garrett Nepert laying down the bunt that drove home Trey Maslin. Bryceson Hernandez doubled NCCU's advantage on the next at-bat with a crisp single to second base.
Walker exited the game after working four innings and giving up two runs on five hits with one walk and a strikeout.
NSU's new pitcher,
Tyler Morgan pitched a perfect bottom of the fifth, but the Spartans could get nothing going against Eagle reliever Brendan Bell in the sixth.
A defensive miscue gifted NCCU a crucial insurance run in the bottom of the sixth. A leadoff single by Bailey, who finished with a game-high three hits, and a walk put two runners on with nobody out. The Eagles bunted both runners over before a foul out accounted for the second out of the inning. Morgan nearly escaped the jam unscathed with a ground ball to second, but Womack's throw to first was wide. Only a heads-up play from catcher
Ty Hanchey saved another run as he corralled Womack's errant throw in foul territory to the right of home plate and won a foot race against Caleb Coyle, tagging him out to end the inning.
The Spartans erupted for three runs in the top of the seventh.
Khie Simms' pinch-hit, two-out double put runners on second and third for
Justin Hayes. NSU's veteran leadoff batter singled through the hole at short to drive home
Adam Collins, who singled with one out, and Simms. Hayes promptly stole second base to put himself in a position to score on a single from Womack.
The 3-3 tie lasted all of two outs as clutch hitting in the bottom of the frame gave the Eagles a 4-3 advantage. Bailey, NCCU's protagonist on the day, singled home Carter Williams to break the deadlock and to end the day for Morgan.
Seth Hockett took over on the mound and fielded a weakly-hit grounder to end the inning.
Morgan (0-1) took the loss for the Spartans after surrendering two runs, one earned, on two hits over 2.2 innings.
The Spartans managed only two baserunners over the final two innings against NCCU's Ryan Miller, and the Eagles scored twice more in the eighth on a single from Corey Joyce.
Miller struck out two for his first save of the season.
Bell earned the win despite allowing three runs on four hits over two innings.
With the 2019 regular season in the books, the Spartans shift their focus to the MEAC Tournament, held May 15-18 in Daytona Beach, Florida.
