A two-run homer by junior rightfielder Will Schneider proved to be the winning margin for the Morehead State baseball team Sunday as the Eagles wrapped up a three-game sweep at North Carolina Central with a 4-2 victory at Durham Athletic Park.
The Eagles moved to 3-0 to start the season for the second consecutive season, while NCCU dipped to 0-3.
Unlike the 29-hit barrage they had Saturday, the Eagles managed only six hits today, but MSU manufactured two runs in the second inning on a pair of sacrifice fly outs and added two more in the fifth via Schneider's long ball.
Starter Aaron Leasher (1-0) struck out eight in five innings and gave way to junior lefty Curtis Wilson, sophomore righty Brent Stoneking and senior righthander Tyler Keele to preserve the lead. The quartet forced NCCU into stranding 11 runners on the day, and Keele collected his second save of the year with 1.2 scoreless stanzas.
"We really had to grind out a win today," said Head Coach Mike McGuire. "I felt like probably 11 of our first 12 hitters had quality at-bats. We hit the ball hard, just right at them, and they made some great plays defensively. Aaron Leasher worked through some tough spots today, and our bullpen was strong again, which is a great sign."
The host NCCU Eagles got on the board first, scoring on a strikeout and passed ball on what would have been the third out of the first inning, but the visiting Eagles answered with a pair in the second. Sophomore second baseman Braxton Morris and junior catcher Jimmy Wright delivered sac flies.
MSU took advantage of a pair of NCCU fielding errors in the fifth. Freshman leftfielderNikoHulsizer reached on a muffed ground ball to third and moved to second on junior Tanner Buenting's first career sac bunt. Hulsizer motored to third on an errant pickoff attempt, and after a line out, Schneider crushed his second homer of the year to center off NCCU starter Alex Dandridge. Both runs were unearned. Dandridge (0-1) was saddled with the loss after only giving up three hits in five frames.
NCCU catcher Conrad Kovalchick provided the final score for his team with a solo homer in the bottom of the fifth.
The host Eagles got runners on second and third with just one out in the eighth, but Keele entered and coaxed two fly outs. He allowed a ninth inning walk but struck out the final batter.
Morehead State will face North Carolina State at 3 p.m. ET Tuesday in Raleigh. The Wolfpack came within one game of advancing to a Super Regional last year and were ranked as high as 10th in the preseason college baseball rankings. In the last three seasons, MSU has five wins over nationally-ranked teams.
