BOX SCORE (PDF) | AUDIO ARCHIVE
DURHAM, N.C. -- The Morehead State baseball team set a school record with nine doubles and tied a program record for hits in a game with 29 en route to a 24-4 victory over North Carolina Central at Durham Athletic Park Saturday.
The MSU Eagles moved to 2-0 in the 2016 campaign, while the NCCU Eagles slipped to 0-2. Morehead State also pounded 17 extra-base hits, including six home runs. Junior third baseman
Alex Stephens hit for the "cycle" in his only four at-bats, drove in four runs and scored three times. In his first collegiate action, freshman catcher
Hunter Fain went 5-for-6 with three doubles. The previous doubles mark was seven, set in 1979 and tied in 2009 and 2015.
Morehead State, which scored multiple runs in seven different innings, jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first and held a 13-0 advantage following three frames. All nine starters in the lineup recorded multi-hit days with junior first baseman
Jesus Carrera, junior designated hitter
Trevor Snyder and sophomore center fielder
Tyler Niemann each smacking three hits apiece.
"You are always concerned about first-game jitters for the young guys, but I really thought we had good at-bats from the first inning on," said Head Coach
Mike McGuire. "It was a contagious thing. We did a good job early moving runners around, and then a lot of guys came off the bench and had quality at-bats too."
Stephens, Niemann, sophomore second baseman
Braxton Morris, freshman leftfielder
Niko Hulsizer, junior rightfielder
Will Schneider all crushed home runs, while freshman third baseman
Jake Hammon tattooed a pinch-hit home run in his first collegiate at-bat.
On the mound, senior righty
Matt Anderson struck out five in 5.1 innings to collect the win. NCCU starter Devin Sweet was tagged for nine runs and 10 hits in only 1.2 frames for the loss. Junior
Brice Longanecker, freshman
Jason Goe, sophomore
Matt Ellenbest and sophomore
David Calderon also saw action on the hill for the visitors, combining to allow just four hits in the final four stanzas.
"The game allowed us to get some pitchers in the game and not have them be as nervous in a pressure situation too," McGuire said. "I think those guys will be better off now when they are called upon next time."
The teams will wrap up the series with a 1 p.m. ET contest Sunday.
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