North Carolina Central University

BASEBALL

     PETERSBURG, VA -- Facing elimination from the 2007 CIAA Baseball Championship, top seed North Carolina Central University scored seven runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to pull out a 14-13 come-from-behind victory over Elizabeth City State University on Thursday night on the campus of Virginia State University in Petersburg, Va.
     ECSU broke open a 7-7 tie game by scoring six times in the top half of the eighth for a 13-7 cushion.
     NCCU responded by scoring six runs with one out to knot the score at 13-13, with the game-tying run scoring courtesy of a three-run double by sophomore Robert Landis. Landis advanced to third base on a passed ball, then scored the game-winning run on a deep sacrifice fly to center field from freshman first baseman Tye Gray.
     Rookie center fielder Oliver Jenkins topped the Eagles offense by going 4-for-4 at the plate with a double, a home run, four runs batted in and three runs scored. Senior right fielder Marcus Mack also had a double and a home run for NCCU (21-23).NCCU lost its first game of the day to Shaw University by a score of 10-6.
     The Eagles will play the loser of the Shaw versus Virginia State contest at 2 p.m. on Friday. The winner of that game will advance to the CIAA Championship Game on Saturday.

CIAA Rookie of the Year Justin Goodson 

All-CIAA performer Oliver Jenkins focuses on the incoming pitch