DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – North Carolina A&T roughed up one of the best pitchers in the MEAC in Game 1 and got a game-winning RBI single from freshman Myles Sowell in Game 2 to sweep a doubleheader from Bethune-Cookman, 10-6 and 4-3, on the road at Sanford Memorial Stadium.
The doubleheader sweep gives the Aggies (6-30, 3-13 MEAC) their first two-game winning streak of the season. They will be looking for their first sweep of Bethune-Cookman since 1989 when the two teams face each other again on Sunday at 10 a.m.
“We played two complete games,” said interim head coach Ben Hall about Saturday's performances. “Our pitching was solid, and we played great defense. We have to come out, bring the same energy and focus to win on Sunday.”
To win on Saturday, the Aggies went up against a pitcher in Keith Zuniga (RHP) who shut them out the last time he faced them a month ago in Greensboro. But the Aggies wasted no time putting runs on the board against Zuniga on Saturday.
The Aggies scored three runs in the first thanks in part to a two-run RBI single from Micah Carmony. They had two more runs in the second for a 5-0 lead as senior Brandon Wilkerson and freshman Milton Rivera scored on a throwing error.
B-CU (14-29, 12-8 MEAC) got back into the game in its half of the second. For Aggiess starter Brian Poag (RHP), it was his roughest inning. The Wildcats recorded six hits and four runs in the inning to cut the Aggies lead to 5-4. But the Aggies offense was relentless.
In the fourth inning, freshman Adan Ordonez hit a two-out double to left field which was followed by a Carmony infield single. Zuniga then loaded the bases by walking A.J. Hunt on seven pitches. It set up sophomore Timothy Ravare's two-run RBI single to increase A&T's lead to 7-4. Sophomore first baseman Kyle Clary added another run when his RBI single scored Hunt for an 8-4 lead.
The Wildcats moved to within two at 8-6 but Wilkerson's two-run RBI double in the ninth gave left-hand reliever Danny Garrett all the cushion he needed as he pitched himself out of a ninth-inning jam to get Mijon Cummings to ground out for the win.
“We got started fast offensively, which helped us play ahead in the game,” said Hall. “I was real excited to see our hitters have that kind of success against one of the best pitchers in the conference. We played two complete ballgames.”
Poag (2-4) earned his second straight win by going six innings and throwing 89 pitches. Garrett got his first save of the season after not surrendering an earned run over three innings. Zuniga (5-4) gave up eight runs and 13 hits over five innings pitched. Wilkerson, the second-leading hitter in the conference, was 3-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBI. Sowell was 3-for-5 with a run scored.
Sowell also made a big contribution in Game 2. With the game tied at 3 in the sixth inning of a seven-inning game, Sowell stepped up with two outs and hit an RBI double down the left field line to score Clary for the go-ahead run. Reliever Ryan Jantsch (RHP) took care of the rest. With two runners on in the ninth, he got Clint Clymer to ground out to short to end the game.
Jantsch (1-2) picked up the win while Tyler Norris (3-2) took the loss. Wilkerson and Ordonez had two hits apiece in Game 2.
