GREENSBORO-The North Carolina A&T baseball team got the
tying run to the plate several times over the course of the contest against USC
Upstate, including in the bottom of the ninth.
But the Aggies weren't able to finalize the rally, and fell to the
Spartans 9-6 Tuesday at War Memorial Stadium.
"We're just not
finishing it. We're giving ourselves a
chance, and that's really what we're asking of our pitching staff-give us a
chance to win ballgames-[our pitching staff] did today. We just couldn't capitalize, especially late
in the game," said A&T head coach Joel Sanchez. "Overall I'd say we were in the game. We couldn't get a key hit, we couldn't
execute a couple of plays that were key for us.
We'd score a couple and then give them right back."
The Aggies fall to 13-24 on the year, and have lost both of
their games against a talented USC Upstate club, who is now 26-12 this season.
The Aggies offense kept plugging away, as the team totaled
13 hits in the game. But the Aggies
couldn't seem to capitalize off scoring opportunities as they stranded 12
runners in the contest.
Junior first baseman Kelvin Freeman extended his hitting
streak to nine games, finishing 3-for-5, and matching a personal season-long
streak. Sophomore third baseman Luke
Tendler extended his hitting streak to 10, going 1-for-5 with a triple, two RBI and a run scored on
Tuesday. His 10-game streak matches Dairio
Little (April 1-14) for the longest hitting streak by an A&T player this
season.
Reigning MEAC Rookie of the Week Brandon Wilkerson had a
strong day, going 2-for-2 with a double and an RBI. Catcher Stefan Jordan was also perfect on the
day, going 3-for-3 with an RBI.
The Spartans pulled ahead to a quick 3-0 lead on a three-run
shot over the right field wall by Greg Guers.
A&T starter Shane Carter retired the next seven batters to help hold
USC Upstate to a short lead.
The Spartans scored their fourth run in the fourth frame on
an RBI single by Tyler Cook. Carter
ended the game with four runs on five hits in four frames in his third start on
the year.
The Aggies cut the lead in half by scoring a pair of runs in
the fourth. With one out and Tendler at
first, right fielder Little doubled down the left field line. Jordan then singled to right to score Tendler
to make it a 4-1 game. Spartans starter
Chris Cox walked freshman Colby Keene to load the bases. Shortstop Michael Radford hit an RBI
groundout to second to cut the lead to 4-2.
The Spartans responded by collecting a pair of runs in the
fifth inning to take a 6-2 lead. Again
the Aggies fought back and halved the score, as an RBI triple by Tendler in the
fifth brought home the third A&T run on the day.
USC Upstate got back a four-run led as an RBI single by
catcher Luke Weber brought home Austin Liput to make it a 7-3 contest.
The Aggies answered right back in the seventh. Marquis Riley tripled down the right field
line to start the inning. He scored and
made it a 7-4 game as Tendler grounded out to first base.
The Spartans loaded the bases in the eighth inning, and
brought home a run as Liput grounded out in a 4-3 play, to pull ahead 8-4.
The Aggies kept chipping away at the deficit, and brought
the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the eighth. Jordan singled to left field to start the
inning. He advanced to second on a wild
pitch, and scored as Wilkerson doubled.
Radford then singled to put runners on the corners with no out for
Carvell Copeland. The senior center fielder
then singled to left field, to score Wilkerson and make it an 8-6 game. The Spartans retired the next two batters,
but Freeman, who represented the winning run, singled to keep the rally alive
and to load the bases. Tendler then
flied out to left to end the inning.
USC-Upstate chalked up their final run in the top of the
ninth. The Aggies recorded back-to-back
hits from Jordan and Wilkerson with one out in the bottom of the ninth to bring
up Radford. Radford represented the
tying run. He hit into 1-6-3 double play
to end the game.
The Aggies have now lost three straight games. They will look to snap that skid this weekend
as they enter into their final four games of the week.
The Aggies will be playing a home-and-home
doubleheader against Longwood. The Aggies will take on the Lancers at 1 p.m.,
on Saturday in Farmville, Va. for a twinbill, and will then host the Lancers
for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m., on Sunday at War Memorial Stadium.
