RICHMOND / LEXINGTON, Ky. – Norfolk State found the going tough in its non-traditional doubleheader Saturday in the Bluegrass State, dropping two games by scores of 6-0 to Eastern Kentucky and 11-1 to the University of Kentucky.
The Spartans (2-12) posted a combined 10 hits in the two games 25 miles apart. Originally slated to play just a single game at EKU Saturday as part of the teams' three-game series, the Spartans also added a night game against the SEC's Wildcats after UK's scheduled weekend opponent canceled.
Below are recaps of the two games.
Game 1: EKU 6, NSU 0
Jacob Ferris pitched a three-hit shutout and struck out 10 for the Colonels, who improved to 10-2 with the win.
Logan Thomason gave EKU the only run it would need in the first with an RBI single. The Colonels added three more in the second thanks to a run-scoring single by Michael Brewer and a two-run double from Nick Howie.
The Spartans' only hits were singled by
Alsander Womack in the first,
Danny Hosley in the seventh and
Trent Hanchey in the eighth.
Ridge Walker (1-3) was charged with the loss after allowing four earned runs in 7.1 innings.
Daniel Harris and A.J. Lewis had four hits apiece for EKU.
Game 2: UK 11, NSU 1
The Spartans fell into an early 3-0 hole. Austin Shultz hit a first-inning solo homer off Spartan starter
Alex Wright. Zeke Lewis' RBI groundout and Chase Estep's run-scoring single in the second pushed the Wildcats' lead to 3-0.
Wright settled in after that, holding UK scoreless for the next three innings. But Kentucky plated a run in the sixth on Coltyn Kessler's two-out RBI single, and the Wildcats broke the game open with seven runs in the seventh.
NSU plated its lone run in the eighth. Womack and
Mason Velasquez hit a pair of two-out singles, and Womack scored from third on a wild pitch.
Mason Hazelwood (2-1) picked up the win with seven scoreless innings pitched. He struck out nine. Wright (0-3) was saddled with the loss, allowing eight runs over six-plus innings pitched with five strikeouts.
Caleb Ward had two of NSU's seven hits against the Wildcats (8-6), NSU's first against an SEC program since facing Tennessee in 2017.
Shultz was 3-for-4 for the Wildcats.
NSU caps its four-game weekend with a third contest against Eastern Kentucky on Sunday beginning at 1 p.m.