TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (April 28) - North Carolina Central played the role of spoiler as the Eagles ruin the Florida A&M Baseball team Senior Day with a 15-11 win over the Rattlers, here Sunday afternoon in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference action at Moore-Kittles Field.
FAMU (4-40, 4-17 MEAC) tallied 14 hits as Scott Sheplak finished with a team high four hits, followed by Bennie Robinson with three hits and both Sylvester Peck and Michael Birdsong with two hits each for the Rattlers.
NCCU (25-23, 12-12) garnered a game high 18 hits as James Dey finished with a team high four hits, followed by Akeem Hood, Dylan Drayton and Tyson Simpson as all three finished with three hits each for the Eagles.
Jacob Russell (4-1) picked up the win for NCCU as he pitched two innings in relief allowing, three hits, two earned runs and one walk in the nine batters he faced, while Terry McNabb got the start for the Eagles as he pitched four and two-third innings, allowing eight hits, six earned runs and striking out two in the 23 batters he faced.
William Carrasco (1-6) received the loss for FAMU as he pitched two and one-third innings in relief, allowing seven hits, seven earned runs and striking out one in the 17 batters he faced, while Kelvin Singletary got the start for the Rattlers as he pitched five innings, allowing six hits, three earned runs and striking out six in the 28 batters he faced.
Birdsong gave the Rattlers 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning with a two-run blast over the left field wall in the bottom of the second inning.
NCCU would tie the contest at 2-2 in the top of the fourth inning as Tyson Simpson singled up the middle scoring Troy Marrow, followed by a Dey single scoring Carter Williamson.
FAMU recaptured the lead in the bottom of the fourth as Peck scored on a Sheplak single and then Sheplak would score on a Kendal Weeks single to right field, giving the Rattlers a 4-2 lead.
The Eagles would tie the contest at 4-4 in the top of the fifth on a Simpson two-run homer.
FAMU returned the favor in the bottom of the fifth inning as Gibbs scored on a Robinson single to right field and then both Robinson and Birdsong would score on a Sheplak doubled down the left field line, giving the Rattlers, a 7-4 lead.
NCCU would score three runs in the top of the sixth, while FAMU scored one run in the sixth and one run in the seventh for the Rattlers to take a 9-7 lead.
Then the Eagles would score eight runs in the two innings as NCCU plated six runs in the eighth and two runs in the ninth to give Eagles a 15-9 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth inning.
FAMU would plate two more runs in the bottom of the ninth inning as Robinson scored on a bases load walk and then Birdsong would score the Rattlers final run on a passed ball, for the 15-11 finale.
The Rattlers will return to action on Saturday, May 4 as they will to Greensboro, N.C. to take on North Carolina A&T in their final MEAC series of the season with a doubleheader set for Saturday and a single game on Sunday, May 5 in a 1 p.m. start both days.
