NORFOLK, Va. - North Carolina A&T ended its nine-game losing streak on Saturday with a 7-4 conference win over Norfolk State. It was the second game of a conference opening doubleheader played at Marty L. Miller Field.
In the first game, James Taylor's RBI walk-off single gave the Spartans a 4-3 victory. The Aggies were able to tie the game in the eighth inning with Marquis Riley's third home run of the season. Carvell Copeland had two hits for the Aggies. Garrett Braun (1-3) took the loss.
Sophomore Andre McKoy led the Aggies in the second game by going 2-for-4 with two runs scored. Copeland and Stefan Jordan had two hits apiece.
The Aggies took control of the seven-inning second game in the sixth. Sophomore Kelvin Freeman took advantage of a dropped fly ball by right fielder John Lynch. The drop put Freeman on second, which led to him going to third base on a wild pitch.
Sophomore Mark Nales sent Freeman home on an RBI single through the right side for a 4-3 Aggies lead. Copeland kept the inning going with another single. After Copeland's single, the Spartans turned to their second reliever of the game in Ryan VanAssche. He didn't fare much better. McKoy greeted him with a single to left field.
Nales was thrown out trying to score as the runners advanced into scoring position on the throw. Back-to-back walks by VanAssche led to another Aggies run, however, as Copeland scored to give the Aggies a 5-3 advantage. VanAssche ran into more problems when a passed ball allowed McKoy to give the Aggies a three-run lead.
Starter Nick Oelker took care of the Spartans in the seventh and was even given an extra run in the seventh thanks to an RBI double by Stefan Jordan. But after retiring the first two batters in the Spartans' seventh, Oelker ran into trouble.
John Raspberry's two-out single was followed by a walk surrendered to Brandon Hairston. Oelker also walked Ryan Montgomery to load the bases. Head coach Keith Shumate turned to Tyler Boone to slow down the Spartan charge.
But Boone didn't get off to a good start. He walked Joyce to drive in a run. On the next pitch however, Cameron Parsons hit into a force play to give Boone his first career save. Oelker (3-2) picked up the win, while reliever Richie Salter took the loss.
