GREENSBORO – They are called response innings. They are the innings that occur right after a team has been successful offensively. That team's responsibility is to then keep the other team from immediately responded in the following inning.
Too often this season, North Carolina A&T's baseball opponents have been responsive. It happened again on Wednesday night as the Longwood Lancers left War Memorial Stadium with a 10-5 win in a game where the Aggies led early. Sophomore Kyle Clary and senior Brandon Wilkerson had 2-for-5 days at the plate. Wilkerson also scored a run and drove in another.
Senior right-hander Charles Cantrell, one of the Aggies weekend pitchers from a year ago, got his first start since Feb. 13 after struggling through some arm soreness much of the season. The Aggies offense got him off to a good start. Back-to-back singles from Clary and Wilkerson put runners at first and third with one out in the first inning.
A passed ball allowed Clary to score and an RBI triple from Brandon Mitchell brought Wilkerson home for a 2-0 lead.
Cantrell looked prepared to hold on to that lead by retiring the first two batters he faced in the second. But he walked C.J. Roth on four straight pitches and the two-out walk would haunt him. Brandon Harvell followed with a single and Colton Konvicka hit a two-run RBI double to tie the game at 2. Travis Biddix kept the rally going with an RBI single to give the Lancers a 3-2 advantage.
“If you go out and score two runs, three runs in an inning you've got to shut the next inning down,” said interim head coach Ben Hall. “We were one out away from doing it, but then we give up that two-out walk. Baseball is tough on situations like that, and it's not going to let you get away with it. They jumped on some pitches and made us pay.”
A&T (2-14) did have a response of their own. After falling down 4-2, the Aggies were able to tie the game in the fourth thanks to a two-run RBI double by Timothy Ravare. Cantrell did not let the Lancers respond in the fifth as he retired them in order. But the Lancers were able to produce with two outs again in the sixth as Biddix's two-out RBI single scored Brandon Harvell from third to give the Lancers a 5-4 lead, a lead they would never relinquish again.
Longwood broke open the game with a four-run seventh that included a double, a triple and a home run. Right-hander Allen Ellis (1-0) was excellent in relief, going 2.2 innings without giving up a hit or a run and striking out seven.
“The game got away from us offensively when they brought the new arm in,” said Hall referring to Ellis. “We didn't make adjustments and we punched out too much. We lost any momentum we had coming out of that first inning.”
Cantrell (0-2) took the loss in what was his longest outing of the season, 5.1 innings pitched. He struck out four and threw 101 pitches in what had to be an encouraging start for a team who is going to need his arm down the stretch.
“Charles gave us a good start,” said Hall. “It was definitely an improvement on what he had been the last few times. He's been battling a little bit of arm discomfort.”
Longwood (8-11) was able to earn 15 hits off Aggies pitching, six of those hits were extra base hits. Konvicka led the way with two doubles, a home run and three RBI. Biddix went 3-for-6 with two RBI and Harvell was 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored.
The Aggies return to action Saturday, March 21 when they face conference foe Savannah State in a 1 p.m., doubleheader at WMS. The two teams will conclude the three-game series Sunday at 1p.m.
