SAVANNAH, Ga., -- Sophomores
Marquis Riley and
Xavier Macklin provided offense early, and sophomore pitcher
Garrett Braun provided relief to lead North Carolina A&T to a doubleheader sweep of Savannah State 11-3 and 8-5 Saturday afternoon at Tiger Field.
The Aggies are 16-4 in their last 20 games, and have won 13 straight against Savannah State dating back to 2005. Senior Nick Rogers picked up his league-leading 10th win of the season on the mound. He went six innings, gave up two runs and struck out six.
Riley went 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored in Game 1. Macklin added a 2-for-5 day with four RBIs and a run scored. Both players homered.
Macklin continued to give the Tigers problems in the second game. He was one single away from hitting for the cycle as he hit a grand slam, doubled and tripled in Game 2 and finished with five RBIs and three runs scored. Macklin's first appearance at the plate ended with a walk. The Aggies needed all the help they could get because the Tigers mounted a challenge in the seventh inning of a scheduled seven-inning game.
The Aggies held a five-run lead going into the seventh. But Savannah State put the first two runners. Sophomore starter Nick Oelker appeared to be headed toward a big break, however, as Blake Lee hit a double play ball. After forcing out Cordarian Robertson at second, the throw to put out Lee was wide, allowing John Arnold to score.
A single to left field by Dexter Kelley drove in another Tigers run to move them to within three. With a runner on second, head coach Keith Shumate turned to Braun to close things out. He did. Braun preserved his fourth save of the season by getting Matthew Nowacki to fly out to left. Oelker improved to 4-5 after pitching 6 2/3 innings.
The Aggies big inning came in the fifth. Carvell Copeland's double led to an RBI single from James Howard that put the Aggies down 3-2. Freshman Dario Little joined Howard on the bases with a walk. An error allowed Riley to reach base, which set up Macklin's 15th homer of the season, a grand slam over the right field wall that gave A&T a 6-3 advantage.
The Aggies improved 28-24 on the season as they go into the MEAC Tournament on Thursday as one of the hottest teams in the league. They will open play against Coppin State 10 a.m., Thursday from Jackie Robinson Park.
