GREENSBORO-The North Carolina A&T baseball team turned
in a strong performance against the defending regular-season Southern
Conference champions on Wednesday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium in a highly
competitive and exciting game.
The Aggies got the tying and winning runs on base in the
bottom of the ninth before a double play ended their hopes of victory, as they
fell to the Elon Phoenix 5-4. It was
the second time this season that an A&T ninth-inning rally against the
Phoenix fell short.
"That was a good ballgame today. It was a real baseball game. We had good intensity from both sides, good
pitching from both sides. Our team had
the right attitude, the right energy. We
fought our game once again until the end," said A&T head coach Joel Sanchez.
Despite the result, Sanchez was highly pleased with the
effort and attitude his players displayed on the diamond.
"That's a good baseball team we played and that's the type
of energy we need to have when we're facing a baseball team-it doesn't matter
who we face," Sanchez said.
Left fielder Andre McKoy finished the game 2-for-3 with two
runs scored. Senior second baseman
Marquis Riley collected a double and three RBI.
He now leads the team with 18 RBI and a .371 batting average. Right fielder Dairio Little also had two hits
in the contest.
"We were into it, we battled until the end. Our guys are putting better at-bats together
and we put a little pressure on them again.
They battled," Sanchez said.
A&T led 3-2 going into the Elon sixth. With one on and
one out, pinch-hitter Sebastian Gomez doubled down the left field line. Tyler Boone then struck out Quinn Bower, but
loaded the bases as Niko Fraser was hit by a pitch. Designated hitter Alex Swim stepped up to the
plate and hit the ball to Michael Radford, who dropped it.
Tomko scored on the error to make it 3-3. With the bases still loaded, Boone walked
Garrett Koster, which scored Gomez.
Boone threw a wild pitch while Ryan Kinsella was batting, and that
allowed Fraser to score for a 5-3 Elon lead.
Boone caught Kinsella looking for his eighth strikeout of the day.
The Aggies cut the lead to one in the seventh inning, as
McKoy singled up the middle against
pitcher Jordan Darnell. He took second
and third on an error by Darnell, who tried to pick off McKoy at first. Riley grounded out to third base, and McKoy
scored on the play.
The Aggies went for the win in the ninth. Radford singled to
left field to start the inning. McKoy followed
with a bunt to the right side. Elon
first baseman Kinsella picked up the ball and made a tag attempt on McKoy. McKoy was called safe by base umpire Chris
Cali. With two on and no out, Riley hit
into a fielder's choice that put out Radford at third. Little then hit in a double play to end the
game and the A&T rally.
"We had good pitching in there, the defense was playing
solid, we had one mistake in there, but that was it. Our offense is starting to come around, so
hopefully we can carry that around into the next conference series," said
Sanchez.
The Aggies also had strong pitching on Wednesday, with two
of their weekend starters getting some midweek work in since the Aggies have a
bye-weekend. The A&T pitchers
combined for a new season-high in strikeouts with 15. Reigning MEAC Pitcher of the Week Esterlin
Paulino matched a season-high with six strikeouts in 3.0 innings. He allowed two runs on four hits. Sophomore right-hander Tyler Boone struck out
eight and allowed three unearned runs on four hits. Freshman reliever Joe Mackey tossed 3.0
shutout frames to silence the Phoenix offense.
The Aggies jumped ahead 2-0 in the first inning. Riley slammed an RBI double to center field
to score McKoy. Riley took third on a
single by Little, and came home as Luke Tendler, who started the game at third
base, grounded out to second base.
The Phoenix tied the game in the top of the second. The Aggies answered in the bottom of the
second to take a 3-2 lead. With two out,
Elon starter John Antonelli walked Carvell Copeland, Radford and hit McKoy to
load the bases. Elon turned to relief
pitcher Andrew MacDonald, who earned the win, to face Riley. Riley walked to score Copeland. The Aggies left the bases loaded as Little
reached on a fielder's choice and Riley was put out at second on the play.
The Aggies are off this weekend, which is their bye-weekend
in conference play. The A&T coaching
staff will be hosting a baseball camp for high school and junior college
athletes from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., at War
Memorial Stadium on Saturday and Sunday.
Registration begins at 8:30 a.m., and the camp costs $85 for one session
for participants.
The Aggies will hit the road next week for their second road
game of the year, visiting USC-Upstate on Tuesday, March 20 at 6 p.m. They will then play at Bethune-Cookman from
March 24-25 for their second conference series of the season.
