Ryan Miller and Company Breeze Past Florida A&M

DURHAM NC – Ryan Miller and the NC Central Eagles (23-18, 15-11 MEAC) snagged game one of their day-night double by a score of 4-1 against the Florida A&M Rattlers (21-30) at Durham Athletic Park. The victory extends their late-season winning streak to three games. The offense remained hot, racking up four runs off seven hits, but the Eagles did not have to lean on the offense much with Ryan Miller on the mound, who was dominant all game long.

Eagles 6 foot 3 right-hander logged in his final start of the 2021 regular season and he made it count. Miller came into the afternoon as one of the best starters in the MEAC, carrying a filthy 9-0 record to go with a 2.47 ERA.

Miller remained efficient on the bump tossing six 1/3 innings surrendering six hits, one unearned run, one walk, and registered seven strikeouts. The performance gives him a perfect 10-0 record to wrap up his final season in an Eagles uniform. He kept the Rattlers offense off-balance, and the only jam he got into was in the first inning. The historic campaign might get him noticed by MLB scouts after the conclusion of 2021.

The Rattlers lone run came off of a throwing error with two outs in the first, which extended the inning and led to a Seyjuan Lawrence RBI single to give his club their first and only lead on the afternoon.

Josh Hancock got the nod for the Rattlers, the senior went 4-6 with a 7.50 ERA in his first 11 starts of the season. The Eagles offense continued their dominance, getting to Hancock early and often. The righty lasted three 1/3 innings giving up six hits, four earned runs, four walks, and struck out three.

After a night where the Eagles piled up an impressive three home runs, they picked up where they left off. Leadoff man Kokko Figueiredo belted his fourth home run of the season with a solo shot to kick things off to tie the ballgame up at 1-1. The Eagles would add another run to take a 2-1 lead. Cort Maynard doubled to right-center and eventually got knocked in by Jacob Raby on a sac bunt.

Hancock settled down a bit, throwing shutout innings in the second and third, but the Eagles tagged him for another two runs in the bottom half of the fourth. The productive inning once against started with Figueiredo recording a one-out single. After Maynard reached on a hit by pitch, Tristan Shea tallied up his 18th RBI with a single to left-center to give the Eagles a 3-1 advantage. The lead widened to 4-1 as the reigning MEAC player of the week, Luis DeLeon, drove in Maynard off a flyout to leftfield.

Miller was just two outs shy of turning in a complete game, but it was spoiled due to a one-out error. Manager Jim Koerner decided to pull his ace after throwing 111 pitches and called in closer Scott Meylan.

Meylan breezed by the only two batters he faced striking out both swinging to put the game in the books. The save for Meylan was his 10th of the season. The Eagles will look to stay hot and make their final push at a conference tournament appearance in the last year of their program.