GREENSBORO (May 7, 2016) – North Carolina A&T, who will only honor two baseball seniors on Sunday as a part of Senior Day, continued to show the growth of a young team in its rebuilding stages.
The Aggies took both games in Saturday's doubleheader at War Memorial Stadium against Savannah State, 4-3 and 6-4. The two wins will mark the Aggies first Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference series win as the two teams will conclude the series Sunday at 1 p.m., at WMS. It was also the Aggies first series win since taking two out of three from Iona since March 4-6.
The keys to the Aggies' success on Saturday was pitching. The combination of right-handers Robert Peck and Will Greene helped the Aggies win Game 1. Sophomore Tevelle Clark's complete-game, nine-strikeout performance led the Aggies in Game 2.
Peck (2-5) also had a quality start in the first game as he went six innings, threw 100 pitches, gave up five hits on two earned runs and struck out five. He received all the run support he would need in the Aggies fifth. Freshman James Rorie opened the inning with a double to center field. Sophomore Myles Sowell followed with a soaring triple to left center field to score Rorie to tie the game at 3. Sophomore Milton Rivera hit a groundball to short which gave the Aggies the lead for good at 4-3.
Savannah State threatened that lead in the sixth as Bernard Barnes reached on an error to open the inning. But Barnes was picked off in a rundown before Cole Bruce reached on a one-out single. Peck settled in however and struck out the next two batters he faced to end the inning and his afternoon.
Greene came on and struck out the side in the seventh, stranded one runner in the eighth before retiring the Tigers in order in the ninth to pick his first save of the season and just the pitching staff's second save of the season. Savannah State starter and right-hander Ryan McCranie (1-7) took the loss after pitching 7.2 innings and striking out five.
In the second game, the Aggies offense made things comfortable for Clark early. Aggies sophomore catcher Adan Ordonez recorded an RBI single the first inning for the game's first run. Ordonez and Rivera eventually advanced to third and second on a wild pitch. Clary scored Rivera on a groundout to second. After Tiger starter and RHP Alex Wright walked senior Lance Jensen, he was replaced by RHP Spencer Gillis. Gillis struggled, however. He hit the first two batters he faced, forcing in a run to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead after hitting Forest Kimbrell.
Right-hander Greg Hollman closed out the inning for the Tigers by getting Jason King to fly out, but he ran into trouble in the second as Sowell doubled and Ravare reached on an error that eventually put the runners on third and second. Hollman then unleashed a wild pitch to score Sowell for a 4-0 Aggies lead. The wild pitch also moved Ravare to third which set up Rivera's RBI groundout to give the Aggies a five-run cushion in the scheduled seven-inning game.
Charles Sikes' two-run homer in Tigers third put SSU on the board. An RBI sacrifice fly from Ordonez in the home fourth kept SSU at a distance as N.C. A&T took a 6-2 lead. The Tigers scored two more runs in the sixth, but Clark was able to retire the Tigers in order to improve to 3-3 on the season. Clark's seventh inning secured the Aggies second two-game winning streak of the season.
N.C. A&T improved to 12-38 on the season and 5-15 in the MEAC. Savannah State dropped to 11-36 overall and 6-14 in the MEAC. Rivera went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI in Game 2, while Ordonez had a 2-for-3 Game 2 with two RBI and run scored as he had a total of four RBI on the day. The two teams will play the series finale Sunday as the team will honor seniors Ryan Jantsch and Jensen at 12:35 p.m.
