GREENSBORO-The defensive woes for the North Carolina A&T
baseball team continued on Saturday, as the Aggies dropped both ends of a
doubleheader against Binghamton, 9-6 and 9-4.
A&T will host Binghamton for the series finale at 1 p.m.
on Sunday. The game will be streamed online at www.ncataggies.com. Fans can watch the
game for free.
The Aggies (4-10) committed eight errors on the day. The Aggies had to work from behind in each
game, and weren't able to successfully complete their late rally in the end of
either seven-inning game against the Bearcats (7-4).
"We struggled again defensively," said A&T head coach
Joel Sanchez. "It's tough to win when
you're playing behind all of the time."
The Aggies did have some strong individual performances at
the plate on Saturday. Junior second
baseman Luke Tendler extended his hitting streak to seven games, by going a
combined 4-for-7 with three doubles and three RBI. His hitting streak matches Cameron Jergens
for the longest hitting streak by an A&T player this season. Jergens also batted a combined 4-for-7 with a
double. Junior catcher Stefan Jordan
went 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI and two runs in Game 1 for the Aggies.
In Game 1, the Bearcats took a 5-0 lead on three A&T
errors in the first inning. In the
bottom of the second, senior right fielder Reggie Washington led things off
with a double to right field. He scored
on an RBI single by Jordan. Shortstop Jeovanny Tolentino followed Jordan
on base with a single. With two on and two out, Tendler stepped up
and slammed an RBI double to right field to make it a 5-2 game. Center fielder Dylan Hipp came up to bat,
representing the tying run, but flew out to end the frame.
Binghamton added to its lead, pulling ahead by five runs
through the top of the fourth. But the
Aggies responded. Jordan led off the
fourth with a double to left. He scored
on an RBI double to right by Tendler.
Hipp hit a single to shallow center field, to bring home Tendler and
make it 7-4.
With two out, the Bearcats brought home two runs on a double
to right by first baseman Jordon Smucker in the top of the sixth. A&T scored two runs to pull within three
in their half of the sixth.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Aggies got runners on
first and second with two out. Sophomore
Brandon Wilkerson, representing the tying run, came to the plate. During his at-bat, Sanchez was ejected for
arguing with the home plate umpire on catcher's interference. Wilkerson grounded out to first base to end
the game.
Binghamton took an early 5-0 lead again in the second
game. Jergens singled to bring home the
first A&T run in the bottom of the third.
Justin Godette replaced Tyler Boone, who made his first start of the
season, after 3.2 innings. He gave up an
RBI single to left fielder Jake Thomas to make it 6-1.
The Aggies scored two in the bottom of the fifth to pull
within 6-3. Hipp scored as Tendler
reached on an error by first baseman Brian Ruby. Jergens hit an RBI single to right to score
Kelvin Freeman, who reached first after being hit by a pitch.
The Bearcats plated three runs in the ninth. In the bottom of the seventh, third baseman
Justin Harris scored as shortstop Jeovanny Tolentino grounded out. Pinch hitter Darrin Meaders was hit by a
pitch and he advanced to second as pinch hitter Brandon Wilkerson reached on an
error. A single by Jergens loaded the
bases with two out for the Aggies to help keep the rally alive. But left fielder Dairio Little flew out to
end the game.
