In a makeup game played on Wednesday, the North Carolina A&T baseball team traveled to Norfolk State, and defeated the Spartans 6-2 at Marty L. Miller Field. The win was a big one for the Aggies as they clinched the No. 3 seed in the MEAC Tournament, which is to be played May 18-21 in Daytona Beach, Fla.
The win came on the strength of another strong pitching performance against a conference opponent. Left-hander Craig Erskine pitched a complete-game and surrendered just one earned run in 105 pitches thrown.
Offensively, freshman standout Luke Tendler had another stellar game. Tendler went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Freeman continued his hot streak at the plate with a 3-for-4 performance that included one RBI and one run scored. In his last 15 games, Freeman is 25-for-50 at the plate with 16 RBIs, seven doubles and 15 runs scored.
Tendler gave the Aggies a 4-0 lead as he hit a three-run RBI double in the third inning that scored Andre McKoy, Marquis Riley and Xavier Macklin. Freeman set up the Aggies next run as he hit a one-out triple in the sixth. Mark Nales followed with an RBI single to left to put the Aggies ahead by four runs.
Erskine improved to 2-6 on the season. The Aggies (19-30) complete their conference schedule at 10-8. They will open the tournament on May 18 at 6 p.m., against Norfolk State. Before the tournament, they will play in a 1 p.m., Saturday doubleheader against Savannah State. It will be followed by a Sunday contest.
