Both the wind speeds and emotions ran high in the series-ending doubleheader between North Carolina Central University and North Carolina A&T as the Eagles took the first game of the day, 12-6, and the Aggies took the second, 12-7, to split the weekend series two games each on Sunday, April 11 at the Durham Athletic Park.
NCCU (12-11, 4-4 MEAC) clubbed seven home runs as a team during the series, with two in each game except the final one. The winds also reached speeds as high as 13 miles per hour blowing out to centerfield, as a total of nine balls flew over the outfield fence during the doubleheader.
GAME ONE: The Eagles set the tone for the day by batting around and scoring six runs in the bottom of the first, sparked by a solo home run by Cort Maynard (Charlotte, N.C.). NCCU steadily put more runs on the board in the frame, and it was punctuated by a bases-clearing three-RBI double by Nick Fajardo (Durham, N.C.). The Eagles then made it an 8-0 advantaged with two more runs in the bottom of the second on back-to-back RBI doubles by Jacob Raby (Granite Falls, N.C.) and Tristan Shea (Charlotte, N.C.).
NCAT (9-23, 4-8 MEAC) found its footing in the top of the third as it sent eight men to the plate to score five runs, capped by a three-run homer by Justin Williams (Charlotte, N.C.) to bring the Aggies within three, 8-5. NCAT went on to make it six unanswered runs after Camden Williamson (Greensboro, N.C.) hit a solo homer to lead off the top of the fourth, but that would be it for the Aggies offensively.
Maynard gave the Eagles all the breathing room they needed as he cranked a grand slam out to right in the bottom of the fifth to mark his second homer of the game, and finished with five RBI as the Eagles won the first game of the day, 12-6.
Emotions and tempers ran high in this contest, as there were three separate ejections in the game.
GAME TWO: NCAT gave NCCU a dose of its own medicine in the second game as it scored five runs in the top of the fifth by way of a two-run home run by Justin Rodriguez (Farmingdale, N.Y.), and a three-run homer by Williamson.
The Eagles got on the board as Kokko Figueiredo (Fortuna, Calif.) mashed a leadoff homer to right to move the score to 5-1, but the Aggies stopped the Eagles’ momentum with three more runs in the top of the second on a three-run home run by Williams.
The game settled down from that point until NCCU had a six-run outburst in the bottom of the fifth to pull the Eagles within one, 8-7. Fajardo, Maynard, Luis DeLeon (Providence, R.I.), Cameron Norgren (Cary, N.C.), and Ahmir Cournier (Jackson, N.J.) each supplied RBI hits for the Eagles during the rally that brought 12 batters to the dish.
NCAT once again had an answer to the Eagles’ power surge, as Tony Mack (Smithfield, N.C.) lifted a grand slam in the top of the sixth to put the final runs of the afternoon on the board, and bring the game to its final score of 12-7.
NCCU will now start a 12-game trek that will begin with a four-game weekend series at Delaware State on Friday, April 16.