NORFOLK, Virginia -- Walter Brantley IV has had a terrible spring.
He’s missed assignments, forgotten play calls and has, at times, appeared lost in a haze at practice.
But his coaches and teammates at Norfolk State understand and empathize with the hulking nose tackle.
In ways most of them can’t possibly comprehend, Brantley has had a terrible year.
Last May, just a few days apart, both of Brantley’s grandmothers died.
On Jan. 23, his paternal grandfather, Walter Brantley II, died of what players say they believe was heartache from the loss of his wife after a 26th year of dialysis treatment.
And then on Feb. 22, a crushing, final blow: Walter Brantley III, a popular and outgoing barber in Hampton who, his son said, “never missed a game, ever” died of congestive heart failure at 47.
So it’s easy for his peers to pardon the occasional moments when the friendly rising sophomore from Phoebus High thinks he sees his late father standing on the sidelines mid-play, only to forget exactly what he’s trying to accomplish in the present.
CONTINUE READING
The "unofficial" meeting place for intelligent discussions of Divisions I and II Sports of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) and HBCU Athletic Conference (HBCUAC). America's #1 blog source for minority sports articles and videos. The MEAC, SWAC, CIAA, SIAC and HBCUAC colleges are building America's leaders, scholars and athletes.
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Friday, April 15, 2016
Williams signs with Norfolk State
SANBORN, New York -- Niagara County Community College sophomore Kyle Williams signed a National Letter of Intent to continue his basketball and academic endeavors at NCAA Division I Norfolk State University on Friday.
Williams, a 6-foot-5 guard, was a second team All-Region III selection this past winter after averaging a team-high 16.1 points per game. The sharp-shooter knocked down 55 3-pointers in just 18 games of action.
"We're very excited for Kyle to receive this opportunity," NCCC head coach Bill Beilein said. "He's worked extremely hard to get to this point. We look forward to seeing him continue to grow on and off the court at Norfolk State."
COURTESY NIAGARA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Williams, a 6-foot-5 guard, was a second team All-Region III selection this past winter after averaging a team-high 16.1 points per game. The sharp-shooter knocked down 55 3-pointers in just 18 games of action.
"We're very excited for Kyle to receive this opportunity," NCCC head coach Bill Beilein said. "He's worked extremely hard to get to this point. We look forward to seeing him continue to grow on and off the court at Norfolk State."
COURTESY NIAGARA COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Why GSU treated end of spring as if it was week after Bayou Classic
GRAMBLING, Louisiana — Broderick Fobbs is always on the prowl to find ways to prepare his Grambling football team for a Southwestern Athletic Conference title run.
His latest move involved extending spring practice by almost a week following last weekend's spring game.
Instead of ending the spring like almost every college program in the country, Fobbs held four additional practices concluding with Friday's session at Eddie Robinson Stadium.
As for the reasoning behind it, Grambling missed out on several practices during last month's flood, so instead of trying to cram them all in before the April 9 game, Fobbs purposely extended the spring by six more days to simulate the week after the Bayou Classic.
"It is it's normally the biggest game of the year. When you play in (the Bayou Classic) and then you have a championship game the following week, the toughest thing is to play very well, receive all of the pats on the back and then put that behind you so you can get refocused on Sunday and practice the right way for the championship week," Fobbs told ...
CONTINUE READING
His latest move involved extending spring practice by almost a week following last weekend's spring game.
Instead of ending the spring like almost every college program in the country, Fobbs held four additional practices concluding with Friday's session at Eddie Robinson Stadium.
As for the reasoning behind it, Grambling missed out on several practices during last month's flood, so instead of trying to cram them all in before the April 9 game, Fobbs purposely extended the spring by six more days to simulate the week after the Bayou Classic.
"It is it's normally the biggest game of the year. When you play in (the Bayou Classic) and then you have a championship game the following week, the toughest thing is to play very well, receive all of the pats on the back and then put that behind you so you can get refocused on Sunday and practice the right way for the championship week," Fobbs told ...
CONTINUE READING
Thursday, April 14, 2016
North Marion's Mackey to play football at FAMU
Cameron Mackey
North Marion High School
Sport: Football
Position: Running back/slot receiver
Individual accolades: Cameron Mackey is a 5-foot-10, 180-pound speedy offensive weapon who rushed for 1,032 yards on 110 carries with 10 touchdowns during his senior season at North Marion. As a receiver, Mackey caught 19 balls for 267 yards and one TD. The Star-Banner first-teamer returned three kickoffs for touchdowns and was second on the Colts in total yards with 1,521.
Most memorable moment: Mackey talks about the Colts' 65-58 loss to Green Cove Springs Clay in the Region 2-5A semifinals. In that game, Mackey rushed for 131 yards and helped put the Colts in position for what could have been the game-tying score in the final seconds. He also scored on runs of 6 and 44 yards and on a 2-point conversion. "We were down 15-0 and came back and fought the whole game," Mackey said. "Unfortunately though, we came up a little short."
FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY
NCAA level: Division I
North Carolina A&T Bowling Arrives In New Jersey Ready to Win
The N.C. A&T bowling goes selfie Wednesday afternoon at Brunswick Zone Carolier. try to win the school's first-ever NCAA national championship. |
When Strombeck arrived in Greensboro from Durham N.C. A&T had won only 32 times in 141 tries over the previous two seasons. Strombeck, who comes from a family of bowlers, certainly had other college options. Instead of choosing those other options, she decided to be the cornerstone of a once proud program that had fallen on hard times.
Four years later she has a resume that makes her the undisputed greatest bowler in school history with four first-team all-conference recognitions, the MEAC Rookie of the Year award in 2012-13, N.C. A&T Female Freshman of the Year honor, MEAC Bowler of the Year as a sophomore and junior, N.C. A&T Female Athlete of the Year as a sophomore and junior and she is a two-time National Tenpin Coaches Association All-American.
After Strombeck came fellow All-American MacKenzie Robinson and Kristin Shinn. Sophomore Kori Smith came two years after Strombeck. All of sudden the Aggies had the nucleus for a championship team – a national championship team. The Aggies won the 2015 were crowned national champions at the Intercollegiate Team Championships sponsored by the USBC. As the Aggies arrived in New Jersey on Wednesday in an effort to win the university’s first-ever NCAA national championship, Strombeck sounded like a lady gladly telling the nation the Aggies are no longer that team she signed up for in 2012.
“When I got here the program was really going through a tough spot,” said Strombeck Wednesday at a press conference. “My freshman year we just wanted to get to .500 to show the program was viable. My freshman year we got to .500 (49-48) and it just took off from there.”
Therefore, Strombeck and her teammates aren’t willing to take a back seat to any of the other seven teams at the NCAA championships.
“It helps to know we’ve played all the teams that are here this year, and we have beat all the teams who are here this year,” said Strombeck. “It’s not like we’re going to come in here the eighth seed and scared of everyone. That’s not the case. We’re going to be ready to bowl.”
N.C. A&T is ranked eighth in the nation by NTCA. They come in with a school-record 79 wins to go along with 38 losses. The Aggies are the eighth seed behind No. 1 Nebraska followed by Arkansas State, Vanderbilt, Sam Houston State, Stephen F. Austin, McKendree and Central Missouri. The Aggies have nine wins against the field including a 3-1 record against No. 3 seed Vanderbilt.
Competition begins with qualifying rounds in which each team bowls one five-person regular team game against each of the other seven participating teams. Teams will be seeded for bracket play based on their win-loss record during the qualifying rounds. At the conclusion of the qualifying rounds, teams will then compete in best-of-seven Baker matches in the double elimination tournament.
In the Baker format, each of the five team members, in order, bowls a complete frame until a complete (10-frame) game is bowled. A Baker match tied at 3½ a piece after seven games will be decided by a tiebreaker using the Modified Baker format.
“When I came in four years ago we only had five people and no one knew who we really were and what our program was about,” said Strombeck. “It took us a good two years to rebuild which is what I came here to do. My goal before I left here was to compete for an NCAA title, so I’m really happy we accomplished that goal. Now we want to win it.”
COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA A&T STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
FIRST THINGS FIRST: Running point for one of college basketball's biggest events
CHARLOTTE, North Carolina — Jacqueline McWilliams landed her dream job four years ago when she became the first female commissioner of the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.
The CIAA conference, based in Charlotte, N.C., consists of 12 Division II historically black colleges and universities. The annual CIAA basketball tournament, the largest of 16 CIAA championships in a variety of sports, features 22 men’s and women’s games in the same week. It generates more than $55 million in economic impact for the city of Charlotte, totaling more than $325 million in the 11 years the tournament has been in the city.
Williams, 47, earned a bachelor’s in psychology from Hampton University, where she played basketball and volleyball. She earned a master’s in sports management and administration from Temple University, and went on to work as a college coach and administrator for the NCAA. Williams is on several boards, including the NCAA, the National Association of Collegiate Women in Athletic Administration and Collegiate Women’s Sports Awards.
I spoke with Williams about how she got the job, learning to say no and the mentor who taught her to always move up.
CONTINUE READING
Wednesday, April 13, 2016
Nuggets remain 15th in NAIA; Alcorn visits Thursday
NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana is one of 14 teams whose ranking in Tuesday's NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll is the same as two weeks ago.
The Gold Nuggets (8-11) remained 15th. It's their 36th consecutive appearance in the top 25 and their 81st in the last 91 polls dating to Feb. 25, 2004.
Xavier will play its final home dual of the season at noon Thursday at XU Tennis Center against NCAA Division I's Alcorn State. Honored in a prematch ceremony will be seniors Vashni Balleste, Brion Flowers and Jana van der Walt.
Alcorn will be the Gold Nuggets' seventh NCAA DI opponent this season.
The national rankings are the NAIA's sixth of the season. Defending national champion Auburn Montgomery received 8-of-14 first-place votes and remained No. 1. Two points behind AUM is Georgia Gwinnett, which received the remainder of the first-place votes. The top six teams are the same as the previous poll.
The Gold Nuggets (8-11) remained 15th. It's their 36th consecutive appearance in the top 25 and their 81st in the last 91 polls dating to Feb. 25, 2004.
Xavier will play its final home dual of the season at noon Thursday at XU Tennis Center against NCAA Division I's Alcorn State. Honored in a prematch ceremony will be seniors Vashni Balleste, Brion Flowers and Jana van der Walt.
Alcorn will be the Gold Nuggets' seventh NCAA DI opponent this season.
The national rankings are the NAIA's sixth of the season. Defending national champion Auburn Montgomery received 8-of-14 first-place votes and remained No. 1. Two points behind AUM is Georgia Gwinnett, which received the remainder of the first-place votes. The top six teams are the same as the previous poll.
NAIA Women's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through April 10)
|
Gold Rush are No. 3 in NAIA for 4th consecutive poll
NEW ORLEANS — Georgia Gwinnett, Auburn Montgomery and Xavier University of Louisiana are 1-2-3 in the NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll for the fourth consecutive time.
The top-25 appearance is the 74th in a row for the Gold Rush (12-5). It's Xavier's 44th straight top-10 ranking.
Xavier is 8-0 against NAIA teams, and half of those victories are against top-10 opponents. The Gold Rush have two victories against No. 10 William Carey and one apiece against No. 4 Northwestern Ohio and No. 5 Keiser.
Xavier will play its final home dual of the season at noon Thursday at XU Tennis Center against NCAA Division I's Alcorn State. Honored in a prematch ceremony will be seniorsManav Chakma, Kevin Chaouat and Kyle Montrel.
Alcorn will be Xavier's 10th NCAA DI opponent this season. XU seeks a school-record fifth victory this season against DIs.
The national rankings are the NAIA's sixth of the season. Two-time defending national champion Georgia Gwinnett (19-0) is unanimously No. 1 for the sixth time. The top eight teams are the same as the previous poll.
NAIA Men's Tennis Coaches' Top 25 Poll (first-place votes in parentheses — records through April 10)
|
Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA
twitter.com/xulagold
www.facebook.com/xulagold
JSU secondary attempting to focus on next play, day
JACKSON, Mississippi -- Jackson State safeties coach LaMarcus Hicks communicates the same thing to his safeties every day.
"Be the master of your attitude," Hicks said. "No matter what happened the day before, the play before, you have to come with a positive attitude the next day, the next play. ... The same thing goes on game day. We have to keep playing and stay positive all the time."
That should be a good message for the safeties and the secondary as a whole to follow after the Tigers' latest scrimmage this past Saturday.
The defense surrendered five touchdowns through the air, all of which came from wide receivers.
"Last week, we came out kinda flat," JSU corner Zavian Bingham said. "And the offense kind of got on us a bit. We came out flat from the jump."
CONTINUE READING
"Be the master of your attitude," Hicks said. "No matter what happened the day before, the play before, you have to come with a positive attitude the next day, the next play. ... The same thing goes on game day. We have to keep playing and stay positive all the time."
That should be a good message for the safeties and the secondary as a whole to follow after the Tigers' latest scrimmage this past Saturday.
The defense surrendered five touchdowns through the air, all of which came from wide receivers.
"Last week, we came out kinda flat," JSU corner Zavian Bingham said. "And the offense kind of got on us a bit. We came out flat from the jump."
CONTINUE READING
Arcadia's Travious Fielding signs with Grambling hoops
ARCADIA, Louisiana — Marcus Jackson fondly remembers two stories about Travious Fielding, his star player at Arcadia High School.
The first dates back to Fielding's eighth grade season when he shed two tears, according to Jackson, who serves as Arcadia's boys basketball coach, when learning he couldn't practice due to a cold. The second happened earlier this year when Fielding, fresh off an ACL surgery, dove over the opposing team's bench against Simsboro.
On both occasions, Fielding's reasoning was the same. He didn't know any other way. He just loves to play basketball.
"I said I'm glad this guy is on my team," Jackson recalled.
Now, Fielding is on Grambling's team after signing with the school Wednesday afternoon, and Tigers coach Shawn Walker is also glad to now have him.
"He only knows one way to play and that's hard. He's tough. He defends and he'll be the catalyst to what we're trying to do defensively," Walker said Wednesday. "He's just a tough kid. He's a lamb off the floor and a dog on the floor."
CONTINUE READING
The first dates back to Fielding's eighth grade season when he shed two tears, according to Jackson, who serves as Arcadia's boys basketball coach, when learning he couldn't practice due to a cold. The second happened earlier this year when Fielding, fresh off an ACL surgery, dove over the opposing team's bench against Simsboro.
On both occasions, Fielding's reasoning was the same. He didn't know any other way. He just loves to play basketball.
"I said I'm glad this guy is on my team," Jackson recalled.
Now, Fielding is on Grambling's team after signing with the school Wednesday afternoon, and Tigers coach Shawn Walker is also glad to now have him.
"He only knows one way to play and that's hard. He's tough. He defends and he'll be the catalyst to what we're trying to do defensively," Walker said Wednesday. "He's just a tough kid. He's a lamb off the floor and a dog on the floor."
CONTINUE READING
Tuesday, April 12, 2016
PVAMU names Ravon Justice new women's basketball head coach
COURTESY PVAMU ATHLETICS |
Justice arrives at "The Hill" after seven seasons with the University of Houston women's basketball team. She served as recruiting coordinator for the Cougars for the previous five years.
"I am very excited about the hiring of Coach Justice," Robinson said. "She has a high basketball IQ and is someone who is going to bring a positive culture to the program."
One area in which Justice is expected to make an immediate impact is in the area of in-state recruiting. A native of Atlanta, Texas in the northeast corner of the state, Justice spent more than a decade as a top assistant collegiate coach in Houston, and played her sophomore basketball season in Clarendon College, located in the southern part of the Texas Panhandle.
"She is a great recruiter. There are few people in the coaching profession who have as much recruiting experience throughout the entire state of Texas as she does."
In Justice's first year at Houston in 2010-11, the Cougars enjoyed one of their finest seasons in program history, posting a 26-6 overall record and returning to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
With Justice's guidance, Houston point guard Porsche Landry earned Conference USA First Team honors and became only the fourth player in Cougars' women's basketball history to tally more than 1,000 points and 300 assists during her career.
Justice also made an immediate impact on the recruiting trail after taking over those duties following the 2010-11 season, as various recruiting services ranked the early six-player class that signed in November of 2011 among the nation's top-40 recruiting hauls, including Dan Olson's Collegiate Girls Basketball Report (No. 22) and ESPN HoopGurlz (No. 39).
Justice joined the University of Houston staff after five seasons as an assistant at Houston Baptist. Before helping the Huskies team transition from the NAIA to the NCAA's Division I classification, Justice was a part of the 2005-06 team that completed an undefeated run to the Red River Athletic Conference's regular season and tournament championships; HBU repeated as tournament champions the following season.
The Huskies would also make two trips to the NAIA Division I tournament during Justice's tenure with the team, including a trip to the quarterfinals in 2007.
During her own collegiate playing career, Justice attended Nicholls State for one year before transferring to Clarendon College. As a Lady Bulldog, she was named a junior college All-American in addition to receiving Western Junior College Athletic Conference Player of the Year honors.
Following her time at Clarendon, Justice played one season at Washington State before finishing her college career at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma in Chickasha.
As a senior at USAO, Justice averaged 19.3 points per game and captured All-Sooner Athletic Conference honors. She tallied the third-most points (521) in a single season in school history during the 2003-04 campaign, while setting school records in free throws (133) and free-throw attempts (214).
Justice earned her bachelor's degree in sociology from USAO in 2004 and received her master's degree in liberal arts from HBU in 2009.
COURTESY PRAIRIE VIEW A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
Jackson State will wait to name starting quarterback
JACKSON, Mississippi -- Offensive coordinator Chad Germany told the media following Jackson State's scrimmage Saturday that LaMontiez Ivy has started to emerge in the team's quarterback competition.
That may be true, but it doesn't mean the Tigers will name a starter by the end of spring practice, which concludes with the Blue and White Game at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
"I think we're going to continue on into the fall camp because that's a long way to go," coach Tony Hughes said. "You name a starting quarterback, now you have to live with that and you go into the ups and the downs and leave yourself open for criticism and this and that. Let's keep the competition alive on our football team and let every kid still feel like he has an opportunity to play, earn playing time or become a starter."
Ivy has been the Tigers' starting quarterback for the better part of the past two seasons. He wasn't asked to do much in JSU's first scrimmage and completed 6 of 10 passes. In the second scrimmage, the Tigers aired it out a little more and Ivy tossed two touchdown passes, one to receiver Daniel Williams and the other to Benjy Parrish.
CONTINUE READING
That may be true, but it doesn't mean the Tigers will name a starter by the end of spring practice, which concludes with the Blue and White Game at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
"I think we're going to continue on into the fall camp because that's a long way to go," coach Tony Hughes said. "You name a starting quarterback, now you have to live with that and you go into the ups and the downs and leave yourself open for criticism and this and that. Let's keep the competition alive on our football team and let every kid still feel like he has an opportunity to play, earn playing time or become a starter."
Ivy has been the Tigers' starting quarterback for the better part of the past two seasons. He wasn't asked to do much in JSU's first scrimmage and completed 6 of 10 passes. In the second scrimmage, the Tigers aired it out a little more and Ivy tossed two touchdown passes, one to receiver Daniel Williams and the other to Benjy Parrish.
CONTINUE READING
Southern students shot in head, chest, coroner says; ballistics test expected to show who shot women
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- Southern University’s student union was quieter than normal Monday, a day after two female students were gunned down outside an off-campus party in Baton Rouge.
Students were slowly coming to grips with the deaths of Annette January and Lashuntae “Tae” Benton, innocents in a shooting that also sent a young man to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“A lot of people don’t want to go to class today,” said Demetrius Carter, a football team captain and the 22-year-old president of the school’s student athletic advisory committee. “It’s bad. … I’ve been up since 2 o’clock this morning taking calls trying to get people to calm down, listening to them, consoling and trying to figure out what actually happened.”
He gestured to a corner of the Smith-Brown Memorial Student Union where a young woman was sobbing into the arms of a classmate.
“There’s a lot of that going on,” he said. “In the field house, there were so many people crying, I had to get up out of there, trying to hold myself together.”
Statement on death of two SU Baton Rouge students
"It is with deep sadness that the University confirms that two Southern University Baton Rouge female student-athletes were killed early Sunday, April 10, 2016. According to law enforcement, freshman track and field athlete Annette January of Gary, Indiana, and sophomore student athletic trainer Lashuntae Benton of Lake Charles, were killed by gunfire outside of an apartment complex in Baton Rouge near LSU, early this morning. An investigation is ongoing. The University asks for prayers and support for the families at this difficult time."
-Ray L. Belton, SU System president
CONTINUE READING
Students were slowly coming to grips with the deaths of Annette January and Lashuntae “Tae” Benton, innocents in a shooting that also sent a young man to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
“A lot of people don’t want to go to class today,” said Demetrius Carter, a football team captain and the 22-year-old president of the school’s student athletic advisory committee. “It’s bad. … I’ve been up since 2 o’clock this morning taking calls trying to get people to calm down, listening to them, consoling and trying to figure out what actually happened.”
He gestured to a corner of the Smith-Brown Memorial Student Union where a young woman was sobbing into the arms of a classmate.
“There’s a lot of that going on,” he said. “In the field house, there were so many people crying, I had to get up out of there, trying to hold myself together.”
Statement on death of two SU Baton Rouge students
"It is with deep sadness that the University confirms that two Southern University Baton Rouge female student-athletes were killed early Sunday, April 10, 2016. According to law enforcement, freshman track and field athlete Annette January of Gary, Indiana, and sophomore student athletic trainer Lashuntae Benton of Lake Charles, were killed by gunfire outside of an apartment complex in Baton Rouge near LSU, early this morning. An investigation is ongoing. The University asks for prayers and support for the families at this difficult time."
-Ray L. Belton, SU System president
CONTINUE READING
Monday, April 11, 2016
FAMU Baseball Gets Second Mercy Rule Win of the Weekend to Sweep NC A&T 17-7
GREENSBORO, North Carolina -- Florida A&M (21-10, 11-1 MEAC) posted its’ second mercy rule win of the weekend to complete the sweep of North Carolina A&T (8-27, 3-9 MEAC) by a score of 17-7 at War Memorial Stadium on Sunday afternoon. Cameron Johnson helped pace the Rattler offense as he finished the day with five RBI, while going 2-for-4 with a grand slam in the fifth inning. Ryan Hutson added four RBI with his first career home run. FAMU finished the weekend with 44 runs scored on 36 hits with seven doubles, three triples and five home runs.
Five different Rattlers (Alec Wong, Marlon Gibbs, Brian Davis, Ben Ellzey and Johnson) recorded multiple hits in the win.
Rattler starter Chase Jarrell (4-1) picked up his fourth win of the season after working five innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits with two strikeouts and one walk. JoJo Durden recorded his first save of the season after throwing the final three innings with three strikeouts and one run allowed on two hits.
FAMU scored first with two quick runs in the top of the first inning. Gibbs tripled into right center with one out and scored as Ellzey dropped in a two-out RBI single to center field. Dylan Dillard, who walked earlier in the inning with two outs, came around to score as Johnson recorded an RBI single into right field.
The Aggies answered by scoring three runs in the home half of the first inning to take a 3-2 lead. Timothy Ravare led off with a single to center field, but Willis McDaniel misplayed the ball and allowed Ravare to advance to third base. Milton Rivera then followed with a single just off the glove of Wong, as the infield was playing in, to plate Ravare from third. After a single from Adan Ordonez, both runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Dawnoven Smith then brought home Rivera with an RBI groundout. Ordonez scored the third run of the inning on a sac fly to center field from Ryan Jantsch.
Florida A&M regained the lead for good, at 6-3, with four runs in the third inning as Ryan Hutson hit his first career home run. With two outs and Dillard on first, Johnson drew a walk to put runners at first and second. Shane Gordon then reached on an error by the shortstop as Dillard came around to score the tying run. Hutson then crushed a three-run shot over the fence in left field to give FAMU the lead for good.
The Rattlers picked up a single run in the fourth inning to push their lead to 7-3. Gibbs reached on an error by the third baseman before Davis belted an RBI double into the left center gap to bring Gibbs home.
NC A&T cut the lead to 7-5 with two runs on two hits in the fourth inning. Myles Sowell led off with a walk and Kyle Clary singled to center to put runners on the corners with one out. Keenan Herring then grounded out to third, which allowed Sowell to score. Clary later came around to score the second run of the inning as Forest Kimbrell singled to center field.
FAMU took a commanding lead with seven runs in the top off the fifth inning that made the score 14-5. Gordon led off with a triple off the wall in left center and came home to score on a sac fly to center field by Hutson. Peter Jackson then reached on a bunt single, stole second and moved to third on a groundout to first by Wong. Jackson was later able to score as Gibbs recorded a two-out RBI single up the middle. Davis then singled to right and Miles, Jr. walked to load the bases. Ellzey would draw a bases loaded walk to score Gibbs before Johnson smacked a grand slam to center field, his second home run of his career in as many games.
North Carolina A&T scored a single run in the fifth inning for a score of 14-6. Ordonez doubled down the left line with one out and came around to score on a two-out RBI single up the middle from Jantsch.
The Rattlers tacked on two more runs that made the score 16-6 in the seventh inning. Davis was walked with one out and Miles, Jr. ripped an RBI double into the left center gap as Davis came home to score from first. Miles, Jr. then scored on Ellzey’s RBI single to center field.
NC A&T scored a single run in the bottom of the seventh inning and Florida A&M responded with a run of its’ own in the eighth inning for the final score of 17-7.
Aggie starter Will Greene (1-5) gave up eight runs (three earned) on seven hits with four walks, one strikeout and one hit batter for the loss.
The Rattlers return home on Tuesday, April 12 to face Jacksonville at Moore-Kittles Field. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 PM.
As always, fans can follow Rattler Baseball on Twitter @BaseballFAMU and on Facebook. Live stats are also available on the baseball schedule page of FAMUAthletics.com.
BOX SCORE
COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS
Five different Rattlers (Alec Wong, Marlon Gibbs, Brian Davis, Ben Ellzey and Johnson) recorded multiple hits in the win.
Rattler starter Chase Jarrell (4-1) picked up his fourth win of the season after working five innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits with two strikeouts and one walk. JoJo Durden recorded his first save of the season after throwing the final three innings with three strikeouts and one run allowed on two hits.
FAMU scored first with two quick runs in the top of the first inning. Gibbs tripled into right center with one out and scored as Ellzey dropped in a two-out RBI single to center field. Dylan Dillard, who walked earlier in the inning with two outs, came around to score as Johnson recorded an RBI single into right field.
The Aggies answered by scoring three runs in the home half of the first inning to take a 3-2 lead. Timothy Ravare led off with a single to center field, but Willis McDaniel misplayed the ball and allowed Ravare to advance to third base. Milton Rivera then followed with a single just off the glove of Wong, as the infield was playing in, to plate Ravare from third. After a single from Adan Ordonez, both runners advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Dawnoven Smith then brought home Rivera with an RBI groundout. Ordonez scored the third run of the inning on a sac fly to center field from Ryan Jantsch.
Florida A&M regained the lead for good, at 6-3, with four runs in the third inning as Ryan Hutson hit his first career home run. With two outs and Dillard on first, Johnson drew a walk to put runners at first and second. Shane Gordon then reached on an error by the shortstop as Dillard came around to score the tying run. Hutson then crushed a three-run shot over the fence in left field to give FAMU the lead for good.
The Rattlers picked up a single run in the fourth inning to push their lead to 7-3. Gibbs reached on an error by the third baseman before Davis belted an RBI double into the left center gap to bring Gibbs home.
NC A&T cut the lead to 7-5 with two runs on two hits in the fourth inning. Myles Sowell led off with a walk and Kyle Clary singled to center to put runners on the corners with one out. Keenan Herring then grounded out to third, which allowed Sowell to score. Clary later came around to score the second run of the inning as Forest Kimbrell singled to center field.
FAMU took a commanding lead with seven runs in the top off the fifth inning that made the score 14-5. Gordon led off with a triple off the wall in left center and came home to score on a sac fly to center field by Hutson. Peter Jackson then reached on a bunt single, stole second and moved to third on a groundout to first by Wong. Jackson was later able to score as Gibbs recorded a two-out RBI single up the middle. Davis then singled to right and Miles, Jr. walked to load the bases. Ellzey would draw a bases loaded walk to score Gibbs before Johnson smacked a grand slam to center field, his second home run of his career in as many games.
North Carolina A&T scored a single run in the fifth inning for a score of 14-6. Ordonez doubled down the left line with one out and came around to score on a two-out RBI single up the middle from Jantsch.
The Rattlers tacked on two more runs that made the score 16-6 in the seventh inning. Davis was walked with one out and Miles, Jr. ripped an RBI double into the left center gap as Davis came home to score from first. Miles, Jr. then scored on Ellzey’s RBI single to center field.
NC A&T scored a single run in the bottom of the seventh inning and Florida A&M responded with a run of its’ own in the eighth inning for the final score of 17-7.
Aggie starter Will Greene (1-5) gave up eight runs (three earned) on seven hits with four walks, one strikeout and one hit batter for the loss.
The Rattlers return home on Tuesday, April 12 to face Jacksonville at Moore-Kittles Field. First pitch is scheduled for 5:00 PM.
As always, fans can follow Rattler Baseball on Twitter @BaseballFAMU and on Facebook. Live stats are also available on the baseball schedule page of FAMUAthletics.com.
BOX SCORE
COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)