GREENSBORO-The North Carolina A&T and N.C. Central rivalry was definitely felt in War Memorial Stadium.

After cruising to a 6-2 win in Game 1, the Aggies fought back and nearly completed the extra-innings come-from-behind victory in Game 2, but lost 5-4.  A&T got the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the eighth inning after a two-run RBI single by shortstop Luke Tendler.  But the final two Aggie batters were retired by Gavin Guarrera to end the game. 

The Game 2 victory marked the first time the Aggies have lost to the Eagles since N.C. Central's baseball program began again in 2007.  The Aggies (6-9, 1-1) are now 4-1 against the Eagles (2-13, 1-1) on the diamond since first meeting in 2009. 

"It seemed like a little bit of a rivalry there at the end, but until then, it really was just another baseball game to me," said A&T head coach Joel Sanchez.  "It is conference play, and that's what we talk about, winning conference series.  We'll come out and play hard again tomorrow."

The Aggies will play the rubber match at 1 p.m. on Sunday at War Memorial Stadium.  On Saturday, senior southpaw Esterlin Paulino set a new scoreless innings streak, pitching a season-high 7.0 shutout frames.  He allowed six hits and two walks with a season-high six strikeouts in his second win of the season.   Reliever Jamal Clark allowed two unearned runs on one hit in two innings.  

Five A&T batters had multi-hit games.   Second baseman Marquis Riley and designated hitter Lee Taylor both homered; it was the first of the season for each.  Stefan Jordan added two doubles.  

The Aggies jumped ahead to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second on consecutive RBI doubles by Taylor and Jordan.  Taylor slammed a two-run shot over the right field wall in the fourth inning to make it a 4-0 contest.  The Aggies made it a 5-0 game in the bottom of the fifth on a solo homer by Riley over right field. 

The Aggies added their final run in the eighth inning on an RBI double by Tendler.  But the Eagles kept threatening, and pushed two runs across in the top of the ninth.  With two on, second baseman Tyson Simpson Jr., then singled to load the bases with no out for the Eagles.  Clark retired the next two batters to bring up left fielder Luis Diaz.  Diaz reached first on an error by A&T third baseman Michael Radford, who bobbled the ball, which allowed a run to score and kept the bases loaded.  Clark then walked Troy Marrow, which brought home Wilson.  Clark got catcher Carter Williamson to ground out to end the game and give the Aggies their first conference win.  

While the A&T pitching was strong in Game 2, the offense struggled. 

"We're in ballgames, we're still competing," Sanchez said. "We are still trying to figure out our offense a little bit.   We pressed a little bit in the second game.  We knew they weren't going to score a lot of runs if we kept making plays.  In seven-inning ballgames, you've got to get on people quick, because anything can happen.  If they get a couple on you, you start pressing.  You start panicking a little bit, you think because it's a short game you've got to hurry and get back.  You've still got to be patient; you've still got to look for your pitch.  Our guys got a little bit out of their approach." 

A&T starter Tyler Boone worked hard to limit the NCCU offense, and helped keep the Aggies in the ballgame behind strong pitching.  Boone allowed five runs, one earned, on six hits with a season-high eight strikeouts in a season-best complete game 8.0 innings.

"He threw strikes and kept us in the game," Sanchez said of Boone.  "It was another good outing, but we've got to get more run support, that's for sure." 

In the sixth inning, the Aggies knotted the score at 2-2.  With one out, right fielder Dairio Little singled to shallow center field.  He advanced to second as Freeman grounded out to third baseman Marrow.  Little scored on an RBI single by Tendler. 

Both teams were scoreless in the seventh inning to send the game into extra innings. But Tendler committed two costly errors in the eighth, which allowed three NCCU runs to score. 

"It was huge.  At the moment we thought we were going to get out of the inning, but we didn't. Our shortstop kind of sat back a little too long on a couple of those ground balls.  It was a tough scrappy group we were facing and we let them hang around," Sanchez said.

The Aggies weren't finished.  Riley walked to start the eighth inning and took third on a double by Little.  Guarrera then replaced NCCU starter Glenn Frye on the mound.  He struck out Freeman to bring up Tendler.  Tendler singled to right field to score two runs to move the Aggies to within one. The next two batters were retired to end the game.

The Eagles took a 2-0 lead in the third frame.  The Aggies responded in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 2-1 contest.  Riley singled to start the inning and came around to score on an RBI double by Tendler.  Tendler finished the game with 3-for-4 with four RBI, the most in a single game by an A&T hitter this season, and extended his hitting streak to seven games.