DURHAM (March 29, 2017) – It was a staff day for North Carolina A&T pitchers on Wednesday, the Duke Blue Devils came away with a 10-2 non-conference baseball win over the Aggies at Durham Bulls Athletic Park.
Ahead of their three-game Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference series Saturday and Sunday at home against Savannah State, seven N.C. A&T arms saw action led by left-hand starter Matt Stanley (0-1) who pitched one inning and took the loss. Left-handed junior pitcher Jonah Owenby and sophomore Leon Hunter pitched the fourth and fifth respectively with neither pitcher giving up a run or a hit. Josh Bottenfield came in in the seventh and pitched 1.1 innings of no-hit relief with one strikeout.
The Aggies (11-12) were also able to get some at-bats for their hitters. Senior Keenen Herring, Xander Maddox and Jason King were among some of the Aggies reserves who received at-bats. N.C. A&T came away with three hits against Blue Devils pitching, but junior left fielder Greg White kept his hot streak at the plate going by going 1-for-2 with a run scored. He is now 9-for-17 at the plate in his last five games.
Despite the lack of hitting, the Aggies had a competitive game going through 5 ½ innings. Duke held a 4-0 lead going into the Aggies' fourth. The Aggies manufactured their first run in the fourth as freshman Camden Williamson singled up the middle with one out. He moved over to third on a stolen base before junior Myles Sowell moved Williamson to third when he grounded out to second.
After Duke starter Graeme Stinson walked redshirt sophomore A.J. Hunt, sophomore Jarrett Norman singled to right field to cut the Blue Devils lead to 4-1. The Aggies inched closer in the sixth when White opened the inning with a bunt single. White moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt and eventually scored on Stinson wild pitch that made it 4-2.
That was as close as the Aggies got, however, as the Blue Devils broke the game open in their sixth. Jack Labosky started the rally with a double, moved the third on a wild pitch and then scored on an RBI single from Michael Smiciklas. Pinch-hitter Peter Zyla continued the Blue Devils momentum with a double to left field to put runners on second and third. An RBI sacrifice fly off the bat of Chris Proctor scored Smiciklas to give the Blue Devils a 6-2 lead.
A walk to Erikson Nichols put two runners on. It prompted the Aggies to turn to freshman right-hander Josh Stikeleather on the mound to replace K.J. McAlister (RHP). He got Jalen Phillips to fly out to center field, but Jimmy Herron's double scored two more for the Blue Devils. Max Miller capped the rally by singling to score Herron for a 9-2 Duke lead.
Stinson (3-1) got the win after striking out eight over six innings. N.C. A&T's series with Savannah State starts Saturday afternoon at 1 with a doubleheader at War Memorial Stadium. Follow N.C. A&T baseball on Twitter @ncatsubaseball.
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