GREENSBORO (February 22, 2017) – The North Carolina A&T baseball program got a big win Wednesday night against one of the favorites to win the Mid-Eastern Athletic title as the Aggies defeated Norfolk State, 4-3 at Marty L. Miller Field.
The game was originally scheduled to be played at N.C. A&T's War Memorial Stadium with the Aggies returning the game in Norfolk, Va., on April 19. But with potential inclement weather in Greensboro, the teams decided to move the game to Miller Field and hold the April 19 game at WMS. Even though both teams are from the MEAC, it was a non-conference contest because the two teams play in separate MEAC divisions.
Yet, for a team looking to make their first MEAC tournament appearance in four years, a win over a Norfolk State team that was picked to win the MEAC Northern Division in 2017 after winning the regular-season north title the previous two season, was a good measuring stick for the Aggies early in the season.
“I'm proud of my team coming out of a tough weekend,” said N.C. A&T coach Ben Hall referring to the Aggies losing all three games at the Baseball at the Beach Tournament in Myrtle Beach over the weekend. “Our guys responded in a great way. If you want to be a great team you have to show you can win on the road.”
The Aggies (1-3) actually got their first win away from WMS since winning at Presbyterian on April 27, 2016. It was a streak of nine straight losses away from home.
Pitching proved to be a crucial part of the Aggies victory. Freshman right-hand starter Michael Johnson pitched the first five innings to get the win as he struck out five, did not walk a batter and surrendered only two runs. Senior Bob Peck (RHP) and Noah Dyals (RHP) were superb out of the bullpen. Each reliever went two innings without giving up an earned run. Dyals recorded four strikeouts to give Aggies pitching 10 K's on the night.
"We got great pitching performances today starting with Michael Johnson," said N.C. A&T coach Ben Hall. "We were sharp in relief and that was crucial."
Norfolk State's pitching wasn't too bad either. In fact, the Aggies were able to take the lead for good in the game thanks to two unearned runs. With junior Greg White on third and junior Milton Rivera on second, senior first baseman hit a groundball to third base. Justin Burrell scooped up the grounder, but his throw was off target allowing White and Rivera to score for a 3-1 lead.
NSU answered with a run in the home fifth on an RBI double from Alex Mauricio to cut the Aggies lead to 3-2. The Aggies got another unearned run in the sixth. A.J. Hunt and Sowell opened the inning with singles and each took an extra base on an attempt to throw out Hunt at third. NSU catcher Ismael Herrera then let a Michael Parmentier pitch get by him, which allowed Hunt to score for a 4-2 Aggies lead.
N.C. A&T relied on their bullpen to hold off the Spartans (3-1), and the pen didn't disappoint. The Spartans did benefit from an unearned run of their own in the seventh as Justin Burrell singled and moved to second on a passed ball. Two consecutive groundouts got Burrell home against Peck to make it a 1-run game. Dyals entered in the eighth and hit the first batter he faced. He was flawless from there, retiring the next six batters he faced to earn his first save of the season.
“We had a good team win tonight,” said Hall. “It will be exciting to see if we can carry this momentum into the weekend.”
The Aggies will play another MEAC Northern Division team in a non-conference affair as Maryland Eastern Shore comes to Greensboro for a three-game series at WMS starting Friday at 3 p.m. Game 2 will be Saturday at 3 p.m., and the series finale is 1 p.m., Sunday.
