GREENSBORO - Once
North Carolina A&T can avoid "the inning," the 2012 season will begin to
prosper for the softball team. A&T and UNC Greensboro were playing a competitive
game on Tuesday before the Spartans scored nine runs over two innings to earn a
12-4 win in six innings.
It was the first game of a doubleheader at UNCG Softball
Field. The second game was postponed because of lightning. UNCG held a 2-0 lead
in the top of the second.
No date has been set to makeup the game. A&T (5-16) was
led by Tranea Jones, who went 3-for-3 with a run scored. Juanita Jernigan hit
her fourth home run of the season, and her third in the last three games.
A&T took a 2-0 lead in the first inning as Jones'
two-out single was complemented by a two-run homer by Jernigan. Jernigan crushed
a 1-1 curve ball by UNCG starter Cory Mattson over the center field fence. The
Spartans tied the game quickly as Alex Emeterio tripled to right field to score
Aisha Figueroa who reached on an infield single.
Emeterio later scored on an error by the Aggies to tie the
game at 2. UNCG scored one more run in the third before a five-run fifth put
the game in the control of UNCG. Katelyn Bedwell was the catalyst in the inning
as she hit a three-run homer off of A&T starter Ashira Dobison.
The Aggies got back into the game in the sixth inning with
Zabresha Blakeney on third and Detavia Kenan second. Both ladies scored on wild
pitches by UNCG reliever Erica Navarette as the Spartans entered the home half
of the sixth with an 8-4 lead.
UNCG was able to bring the game to an end with four more
runs in the inning. Emeterio and Eileen Horsmon opened the inning with singles
and moved into scoring position on an error in left field off of the Horsmon
single. Bedwell added to her RBI total with a triple to right field to take a
10-4 lead. Bedwell added another run when she scored on a passed ball. Heather
Robb, who reached on a fielder's choice, scored to bring about the 8-run rule
after five. Robb scored on an RBI single by Figueroa.
The Spartans (10-18) were led by Bedwell's five-RBI
performance. The Aggies return to action Thursday when they host Maryland
Eastern Shore at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex in a 2 p.m., doubleheader.
