GREENSBORO -- The North Carolina A&T baseball team got the tying run to the plate in the eighth inning following a leadoff double by junior third baseman Mark Nales.
But the Aggies weren't able to complete the rally, and fell to Navy 3-1 on Opening Day Friday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium.
"We had good energy, good intensity, the guys were eager to finally face somebody else. We showed up, we just had a couple of miscues, and that ultimately cost us a couple of runs that turned out to be key runs," said head coach Joel Sanchez, who made his A&T managerial debut on Friday.
The Aggies (0-1) started off the2012 campaign strong on the mound, as they allowed just one earned run against Navy and struck out seven total batters. Senior left-hander Esterlin Paulino was up to his old habits for the Aggies, striking out six batters in 6.2 innings of work, allowing just two hits. Paulino fanned four of the first six batters he faced, and did not allow a man to reach base until the third inning.
The Aggies also saw strong work from freshman right-hander Joe Mackey, who tossed 2.1 scoreless frames with a walk, a strikeout and a pair of hits.
"Knowing Paulino, we knew he was going to throw strikes, we knew he was going to keep them down if we could make the plays behind him, he would keep us in the ballgame," Sanchez said. And Paulino kept the Midshipmen on a tight leash in the first five innings.
Navy did not get its first hit of the game until the fifth inning. The Aggies had batters reach base in the first three innings, but were unable to advance them past second.
"Our offense didn't really show up like it can," Sanchez said. "[Navy right-hand starter Ben Nelson] kept us off balance, and had a good mix. He had a sneaky fastball. It got on you. He wasn't throwing all that hard, it just seemed like it was getting on the hitters quicker than it looked."
The Midshipmen threatened in the fifth frame, as designated hitter Nikolai Simonsen reached on a fielding error. He advanced to second on a single to short by first baseman Kash Manzelli. Both runners moved into scoring position as right fielder Andrew Hahn grounded out to first. But then Paulino got shortstop David Wiedeman to pop out to second to end the inning and keep it a scoreless game.
Navy struck and got its first run in the sixth inning to take a 1-0 lead. Senior center fielder Alex Azor led off with a triple to center field, and scored on a sacrifice fly by catcher Dave Milanes.
While both teams collected just four hits in the contest, the Midshipmen were able to capitalize on two of A&T's three errors in the seventh inning to take a 3-0 lead.
With one out, Manzelli reached first safely on a fielding error by Freeman, who saw the ball go under his glove.
"The one error on Freeman at first base, that's a play he makes a thousand times in practice. It just happens. He kind of hesitated a little bit and tried to come up on it and the ball just found a hole under his glove. It was tough," Sanchez said.
Paulino then struck out Bryant for his sixth strikeout of the game. Hahn reached on a throwing error by shortstop Luke Tendler to put two men on base. Sanchez then called upon Mackey to face ninth-hole hitter Weideman, since Paulino reached his pitch count. Weideman singled to center field to score both runners. Both runs were unearned.
"Mackey did really well, being first time out as a freshman. He got a bad break there with that ground ball up the middle, jams the kid, and the ball finds a hole up the middle, allowing those two key runs to score. That was just a bad break," Sanchez said.
Mackey gave up a single to Azor to put two runners on with two out before getting left fielder Brandon Beans to go down swinging.
"He got the next guy out and then finished up strong," Sanchez said of Mackey. "That's the type of kid we thought he was going to be. He did well his first time out."
The Aggies went down in order in the seventh, but got started off strong in the eighth. Nales, who finished the game 1-for-3, doubled down the right field line to kick start the A&T offense. Catcher Stefan Jordan then struck out swinging, but Milanes dropped the third strike. Milanes threw to Manzelli to put Jordan out at first. Nales took third, and also came running home. Manzelli threw the ball back to try to get Nales out at home, but Milanes dropped the ball as Nales crossed the plate.
With one run in, left fielder Andre McKoy stepped up to the plate. He walked, and Navy replaced reliever Johnny Schoberl with Joel Rinehart. McKoy stole second while center fielder Carvell Copeland was batting against Rinehart. With one out and a runner in scoring position, Copeland became the potential tying run. But Rinehard got Copeland to strike out. Riley then came to bat, and grounded out to shortstop to end the inning and the A&T rally.
Mackey put down the Midshipmen in order in the top of the ninth. Freeman walked with one out in the bottom of the ninth to try to start another A&T offensive rally, but Rinehart fanned Dairio Little and Lee Taylor to secure the win and collect his first save of the year. Nelson (1-0) collected the win and Paulino (0-1) picked up the loss in the game.
The Aggies will return to action on Saturday at 1 p.m. RHP Tyler Boone will take the hill for the Aggies, while RHP Preston Gainey will start for Navy.
