SAVANNAH, Ga.-What  began as a 1 p.m., start between the North Carolina A&T and Savannah State baseball teams turned into a five-hour lightning and rain delay Saturday at Tiger Stadium. The break didn't do the Aggies any favors, as they lost the momentum from their quick start, and fell to the Tigers 8-3.

The two teams were scheduled to play a doubleheader on Saturday, but because of the weather they will face off in a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m., on Sunday. 

"[We started off strong] then we went back and relaxed. That was it," said A&T head coach Joel Sanchez about the Aggies 1-0 lead before the inclement weather started in the top of the second.

 "You can't take anybody lightly.  We didn't, but we didn't come ready to play at the second start," Sanchez continued.  "We went back and relaxed, and maybe we should have stayed out here. Who knows?  We didn't come ready to play.  Hopefully tomorrow we can come back out and get going because we need to get going." 

The Aggies worked to stay in the game with an in-the-park two-run homer by Andre McKoy and strong relief pitching from freshman Joe Mackey (who allowed just one run in 4.2 innings), but the offense struggled to get runners on base late in the game, tallying just three hits in the last six innings of the contest.  

"Mackey came in and he gave us a chance.  He kept us in the game for a long part, and threw strikes.  We just kept giving at-bats away.  We couldn't get a string of at-bats together.  We couldn't get a leadoff guy on," Sanchez said.

 A sacrifice fly to left field by catcher Stefan Jordan scored Kelvin Freeman to give the Aggies their early run.  Before Brandon Wilkerson could step up to the plate, notification that lightning was seen 10 miles from the stadium resulted in an automatic 30-minute delay.  The rain started to fall steadily at about 1:50 p.m., and after looking at the Doppler radar, it was decided to try to fit the game in at 6 p.m., after the rain cleared the area.

When play resumed, Wilkerson grounded out to end the top of the second.  The Aggies then called up on sophomore right-hander Tyler Boone to pitch, relieving starter Estarlin Paulino, who tossed a scoreless first.  Paulino could possibly return to the mound on Sunday in Game 3.   The Tigers, however, kept their starter, Kevin McGowin, in the game.

The Tigers responded in the bottom of the second as an RBI double by third baseman Ian Farris tied the score at 1. The Tigers added four more runs in the inning to take a 5-1 lead.

But the Aggies got two runs back on a two-run inside-the-park home run in the top of the third to make it a 5-3 ballgame.  With one on first and one out, left fielder Andre McKoy drilled the pitch from SSU right-hander McGowin over the head of right fielder Uriah Virgo, who misjudged the ball.  Speedster Carvell Copeland raced around the basepaths and scored easily.  The ball rolled toward the right field wall, which stands 380 feet away from home plate.  McKoy sprinted through the basepaths and was waved on by third base coach Austin Love, and reached the plate before the throw from Virgo. 

"The kid can run.  It was a good play," Sanchez said.

It was McKoy's first inside-the-park homer since May 19, 2011 in a MEAC tournament game against Maryland Eastern Shore.  He hit two home runs in 2011-his other homer, an over-the-fence shot, came against the Tigers on March 5.

"I was hoping it went over his head, so I could head for a triple.  That was my first instinct-to get to third base," McKoy said. "When I rounded second, I saw Coach Love waving me around, so the next thought was to touch the base cleanly.  I saw the incoming throw heading to the plate from the outfield so I knew I had a chance to beat it."

Boone kept the Tigers scoreless in the third.  In the fourth, SSU added two runs to make it a 7-3 game. Boone, who allowed five runs on five hits in 2.1 innings with four walks, picked up his fourth loss.  The Aggies stranded a runner in the fifth and sixth innings, but went down in order in the seventh and eighth frames.

"Their guy came back and stuffed it for eight innings," Sanchez said of McGowin, who allowed five A&T hits in eight frames.   "He was throwing strikes and keeping us off balance.  He competed well. You've got to tip your hat.  He's sneaky fast, he wasn't overpowering, but the ball got on us a little bit.  They're a good, scrappy team."