MURFREESBORO – Variety: the spice of life.

If that was the case Saturday for Chowan University’s baseball double-header victory over Virginia State in CIAA action, then sprinkle on some more seasoning.

The Hawks executed the twin-killing by such diverse scores as 17-0 and 2-1.

The wins upped their overall record (14-13) above .500 for the first time this season and left them 10-2 in the league with over half their conference schedule still to be played.

In the first game, the Hawks scored in every inning, but one enroute to the shutout with every player in the batting order driving in at least one run led by sophomore Williams Ward with four RBIs.

Freshman Ryan Moore went 3-for-4 with a single, a double, and a homerun – and just missing a triple in his last at-bat – along with scoring two runs.

Junior left-hander John DesChamps evened his record at 3-3 in picking up the win on the mound for the Hawks, as he tossed a complete game four-hitter and struck out seven. Brandon Cooper took the loss for the Trojans; surrendering 10 runs with eight of them earned.

“I felt good about their pitcher because I’d faced him in high school,” said Moore afterward, “so I kinda knew what he was throwing.

“He left a couple of pitches up (in the strike zone) to me,” he added with a sly grin, “and I did what I had to do.”

Game two was a different story for Moore (0-4) and for the Hawks as they needed extra innings before a walk-off hit-batsman accounted for the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Sophomore Brandon Mack got both ribbies, including the first one with a sacrifice fly.

Brett Overton and Thomas Bird got the only hits of the game for Chowan while junior right-hander Brett Garrett earned the nine-inning win, his sixth of the year. He gave up just two hits and an unearned run in the first inning while striking out seven.

“We came out with fire in our eyes in the first game,” said seventh-year coach Aaron Carroll, “and this makes the third shutout for DesChamps this season. We hit the ball well and our defense was strong.

“The second game,” he added, “was like it’s been all year; we’re kind of up-and-down and game-to-game. Great pitching and great defense, but our offense just kind of fell asleep out there.

“It may not have been pretty,” he concluded, “but we found a way to get out of here with two wins today.”

Chowan began the pounding of the in the first game as Moore delivered a two-out double in the first inning for the first run.  Adam Capps drove in the other and the final run of the inning scored on a wild pitch.

After adding another run in the second inning the Hawks added four more in the third with two of those runs unearned and led 7-0 after three innings of play.

A scoreless fourth frame was followed by three more runs in the fifth, highlighted by Moore’s team-leading third homerun of the year.

In the sixth inning, the Hawks just feasted on VSU pitching: William Ward, Josh Bagbey and Overton drove in two runs each as part of a seven-run explosion that allowed Chowan to finish the game with 15 hits.

In the second game, the Trojans finally broke their scoring drought by pushing across a run on an error in the bottom of the first inning. Chowan got the equalizer on Mack’s sacrifice fly that scored Bird in the bottom of the fifth.

VSU pitcher Darryl Stringfield matched Garrett by giving up just two hits and squelched potential scoring threats by the Hawks in both the seventh and eighth innings.

However, he was hit in the chest on a pick-off throw by his catcher in the ninth and never quite regained his control; walking the next two batters to load the bases and then hitting Mack in the back on his third pitch of the at-bat.

Chowan’s follow-up series with VSU in Ettrick, Virginia on Sunday was postponed due to weather. They next take to Hawkins Field Wednesday at 1 p.m. when they host St. Paul’s in a double-header.