DAVIDSON, N.C. - In what turned out to be a wild 3 ½ hour baseball game, Davidson pulled away late in a 22-15 win over North Carolina A&T. The two teams combined for 31 hits, seven errors and nine different pitchers.
Junior Xavier Macklin pushed his average back over .300 with a 4-for-6 performance. He also scored three runs and drove in four. Luke Tendler, last week's MEAC Player of the Week, had three hits and four RBIs. Sophomore Dairio Little had three hits, including his second home run of the season, and three RBIs.
The Wildcats held a 15-14 lead going into the home half of the eighth. The Wildcats posted seven runs in the eighth to make things difficult for N.C. A&T. The Aggies ran into trouble when three straight batters reached base due to either a walk or a hit by pitch. Davidson's J.P. Craven had the key hit in the inning with a two-run RBI single to center field. It was one of only two hits that occurred in the inning.
Despite the Wildcats' big inning, the game was still in doubt considering the Aggies previous rally in the game. The Aggies trailed 12-0 over the first three innings of the game. The Aggies chipped away at the lead until their huge sixth inning.
Sophomore Mark Nales started the offensive showcase with an infield single. A three-base error by Wildcats third baseman Andrew Barna allowed Nales to score. Andre McKoy put runners on third and second as he singled and stole second. Little's hit drove in Stefan Jordan to pull the Aggies to within five at 13-8.
Riley's groundout drove in another Aggies run before Macklin doubled to left center field to score Little. Tendler followed with another double to move the Aggies to within two. Kelvin Freeman closed out the scoring with an RBI single to left field as Tendler scored to slice the Wildcat lead to 13-12.
The Wildcats took a 15-12 lead in their half of the sixth, but the Aggies answered again with Little's two-run homer in the seventh. After Davidson's eighth, the Aggies placed their first two batters on base in the ninth. Marquis Riley made it even more interesting when he loaded the bases by reaching on an error. McKoy scored on a Macklin groundball, but Tendler hit into a double play to end the game.
Brett Young took the loss for N.C. A&T, while Ryan Overcash improved to 1-1 with the win. The Aggies will try to end their eight-game skid 6 p.m., Wednesday when they play at UNC Greensboro.
