BOONE (May 3, 2016) – After a rough start to their baseball game against Appalachian State, the North Carolina A&T bullpen kept the Mountaineers' offense at bay.
The Aggies offense came alive in the process. But right when the Aggies were about to pull off an excellent comeback on the road, the Mountaineers found their offense again and came away with a 10-9 win at Smith Stadium Tuesday night.
Sophomore Myles Sowell had two hits and drove in three runs while sophomore Milton Rivera went 3-for-5. Rivera also scored two runs to take over as the MEAC-leader in runs scored. Sophomore Adan Ordonez and senior Lance Jensen had two hits and two runs scored apiece.
The Aggies (10-37) needed all the offense they could get after falling behind 7-0 over the first two innings of the game. But by the end of the top of the seventh, the Aggies had the lead. N.C. A&T tied the game at 7 when Adan Ordonez, who reached on an error, scored on a bases loaded walk to James Rorie. One batter later, the Aggies received another favor from the Mountaineers as Matt Schaeffer hit Sowell with a 1-0 pitch to force in another for the 8-7 lead.
Rivera helped the Aggies add to the lead when he led off the eighth inning with his second double of the game and his 16th of the season. Ordonez followed with a single to put runners on first and third. The Mountaineers turned to relief pitcher Dallas DeVrieze to face senior Ryan Jantsch. DeVrieze got Jantsch to ground out to second, but Rivera scored to give the Aggies a 9-7 advantage going into the Mountaineers home eighth.
The lead did not hold up, however, as the Mountaineers scored on an error, a wild pitch and an RBI single from Colin Schmid to take a 10-9 lead. N.C. A&T did put the go-ahead run at the plate in the ninth after a single from Sowell. But the game ended on a Jarrett Norman fly out. DeVrieze got the win while Brian Bauk got his fifth save of the season. Leon Hunter, Jr. (2-4) took the loss.
N.C. A&T is back in action Wednesday night when they travel to Elon University to face the Phoenix at 6 p.m.
