GREENSBORO - Everything about the 2011 North Carolina A&T softball team points toward the future. The pitching help the Aggies so desperately need is coming next season. Therefore, the big question is when will the hitting begin for the team's 10 freshmen?
The Aggies took a big step forward in that department on Saturday as they compiled 29 hits over two games in a split with Savannah State at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex. The Aggies won the first game 11-2 and lost the second 16-14.
Freshman designated hitter Lauren Clement went 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI in Game 1, while Dominique Gillard was 2-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored. Juanita Jernigan had the biggest day with three hits, two home runs, three runs scored and six RBIs.
For the first time all season, the Aggies forced the conclusion of a game because they led by eight or more runs after the fifth inning.
N.C. A&T dominated the game from the beginning. A seven-run second inning took care of the Tigers. Tranea Jones started the scoring by tripling to right to score Tiffany Macklin. After an error allowed Jones to score, Jernigan blasted a home run to left center field for an 8-0 Aggies lead.
Back-to-back singles set up the Aggies next run as Gillard doubled to right center, scoring Detavia Kenan. Dominique closed out the Aggies second-inning with a base-clearing RBI double that scored Gillard and Clement for an 11-0 advantage.
Until the pitching helps arrive, sophomore Hope Fletcher (6-11) sufficed in the first game. Fletcher pitched five innings, gave up just four hits and one earned run.
Solid pitching did not exist in the second game. N.C. A&T found itself down by 9-plus runs twice. The Aggies trailed 11-0 after the first 2 ½ innings. Macklin put the Aggies on the board with a solo home run to left field. Jernigan kept the home run derby alive with her second shot of the day - a three-run homer to left field to cut the Tigers lead to 11-4. It was Jernigan's team-leading sixth home run of the season.
Gillard closed out the six-run third with a double to left that scored Kenan and Sabrina Edmonds. After Ryanne Hill's fifth homer of the season pulled the Aggies to within four at 11-7 in the fourth, the Tigers scored five more runs in the visitor's half of the fifth to take a 9-run lead.
An Edmonds home run and a three-run RBI double by Dominique Smith helped the Aggies score five runs in their fifth to slice SSU's lead to 16-12. Gillard kept the Aggies rallying in the sixth when her RBI single scored Edmonds who reached on a double. Macklin got the Aggies to within two on with a single up the middle to score Gillard.
The tying run came to the plate three times in the seventh, but Hill was stranded at third to end the game. Edmonds went 4-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI. Macklin added three hits, two runs scored and two RBIs. Smith and Gillard had three RBIs apiece. Jones (1-13) took the loss in the second game. The Aggies (7-27) return to action on Wednesday when they face UNC Greensboro at LASC in a 2 p.m. doubleheader.
