Norfolk, Virginia -- Justin Hayes had four hits, Stephen Baughan drove in three runs and the Spartans got clutch pitching from a quartet of players to earn their first two wins of the season in a 7-3, 5-3 doubleheader sweep of Lehigh on Saturday afternoon at Marty L. Miller Field.
The Spartans (2-11) got seven strong innings from righty Chase Anderson in the opener and five more from Jonathan Mahoney in the nightcap, and freshman relievers Seth Hockett and Joey Santos pitched a scoreless inning apiece in both games.
Game 1: NSU 7, Lehigh 3
In game one, the Spartans rode 11 hits and the pitching of Anderson, who did not allow a hit through his first six innings, to the win.
Anderson cruised through six no-hit innings before Lehigh scratched across three runs in the seventh. By that time, the Spartan offense had already plated five runs. Anderson struck out five and allowed three hits and three runs over seven innings to improve to 1-2 on the season.
NSU struck first with three runs in the third. Syeed Mahdi hit a two-out, two-run single to score Justin Burrell and Alejandro Pelaez with the game's first runs. Ismael Herrera then scored on a Lehigh error to cap the rally.
Justin Burrell's two-run single in the fifth pushed NSU's lead to 5-0.
Lehigh cut into the Spartans' lead on a two-run triple by Ryan Malloy, scoring James Bleming and Jeff Shanfeldt, who led off the seventh with the first two hits of the game against Anderson. Malloy later scored on a wild pitch to bring Lehigh within 5-3.
But the Spartans stretched their lead back to 7-3 in the eighth on a pair of two-out, RBI singles by Alsander Womack and Baughan.
Hockett and Santos closed out Lehigh by pitching scoreless innings in the eighth and ninth innings, respectively.
Anderson allowed just three base runners in the first six innings, two which reached on NSU errors and another who walked.
Hayes went 3-for-5 in the opener, while Womack, Burrell and Mahdi each had two hits. Burrell and Mahdi also drove in two runs apiece.
Game 2: NSU 5, Lehigh 3
NSU plated four runs in the first and never looked back. Lehigh scored once in the first on an RBI single by James Bleming, but the Spartans rebounded quickly in the bottom of the first. The first four Spartans reached base, as Hayes walked and Alsander Womack singled. Baughan brought both home with a single down the right-field line and Aaron Robinson also singled. Tony Leite and Burrell drove in the other two runs in the inning with grounders to stake NSU to a 4-1 lead.
The Mountain Hawks got two back in the third on sacrifice flies by Bleming and Shanfeldt. But Mahoney worked out of the jam to keep NSU in the lead.
The Spartans plated an insurance run in the sixth as Leite led off with a double and scored on a suicide squeeze bunt by Johnny Mayer.
Hockett and Santos both pitched perfect innings in relief of Mahoney, striking out three of the six batters they combined to face. Santos fanned two to collect his first career save.
Mahoney (1-3) earned his first win as a Spartan, allowing six hits and three runs, just one earned, in five innings of work. He walked one and struck out three.
Baughan went 2-for-3 with two RBI in the nightcap and finished the day 3-for-7 with three RBIs. Hayes was 1-for-1 with two walks in the second game and finished the day 4-for-6. He reached base seven times, including twice by walk and once on an error.
Womack also collected three hits on the day.
The teams play another doubleheader beginning at noon on Sunday.
NORFOLK STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS
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