GREENSBORO - UNC Asheville finally pulled away from a resilient North Carolina A&T baseball team on Tuesday as the Bulldogs earned a 14-8 win at War Memorial Stadium.
The two teams combined for 12 runs over the first three innings. The Bulldogs took a 7-3 lead in the third as Catlin Carter doubled to left field to score Danny Baatz from second. Jordan Lurie supplied the other run in the inning when he grounded out to shortstop to score Carter who stole third during Lurie's at bat.
Base running helped the Aggies get back into the game. Marquis Riley hit a groundball to UNC Asheville first baseman Robert McIntosh. The speedy Andre McKoy, who reached base on a walk, forced McIntosh into a bad throw as he advanced to second base safely. McKoy then moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt.
Xavier Macklin loaded the bases with walk, which led to Luke Tendler hitting into a double play. McKoy scored on the play to cut the Bulldogs' lead to 7-4. Riley moved the Aggies to within two as he scored on a David Ricker wild pitch.
A four-run inning, however, distanced the Bulldogs from N.C. A&T. Doubles by Lurie and Bean Zinman led to two of the runs. The Aggies tried to answer. Riley hammered the first pitch he saw from Carson McLean to record a two-run homer to right field. Macklin followed with his sixth home run of the season to slice UNC Asheville's lead to 12-8.
The Aggies were not able to get any closer as they dropped to 7-16. McKoy went 2-for-3 and scored three runs. Riley had a three-RBI afternoon. Craig Erskine (0-3) took the loss while McLean (1-0) picked up the win.
The Aggies face UNC Greensboro Wednesday night a 6 from NewBridge Bank Park in downtown Greensboro.
