NCCU
BASEBALL SWEEPS VSU, WINS CIAA
REGULAR-SEASON TITLE
Kyle Serba
4/14/07
ETTRICK,
VA - Needing only to split a
doubleheader with Virginia State
University to claim the CIAA
regular-season title, North Carolina
Central University won both games to
remove any doubt on Saturday at VSU in
Ettrick, Va.
The
visiting Eagles captured the
regular-season league crown with a 3-1
victory in game one, then earned their
20th win of the school's first baseball
campaign in 32 years with a
come-from-behind 8-7 decision in the
nightcap.
In game
one, NCCU scored three times in the top
of the sixth inning to break open a
scoreless contest. Rookie shortstop
Justin Goodson opened the sixth with a
triple, followed by an RBI single by
freshman second baseman Kurt Wilson.
After a walk to senior Marcus Mack,
sophomore Robert Landis cleared the
bases with a single to left field.
VSU
managed one run in the seventh and final
inning, but it was not enough, as NCCU
freshman hurler Alex Weathersby
scattered five hits to pick up his ninth
victory of the season.
In game
two, NCCU trailed 7-5 going into the
last inning, but the determined Eagles
scored three times for the win.
Sophomore Gene Suarez hit a one-out,
bases-loaded double to plate the
inning's first two runs. Then with two
outs and the bases loaded, freshman Tye
Gray scored the game-winning run on a
wild pitch.
Mack
sparked the Eagles' offense by going
4-for-4 at the plate with an RBI, while
Gray drove in two of the team's four
runs in the first inning with a home run
to center field.
In
NCCU's first season of baseball since
1975, veteran head coach Henry White has
guided a young Eagle squad to the CIAA
regular-season title and a 20-win
campaign (20-22).
Kyle Serba