DAVIDSON (April 22, 2017) – The North Carolina A&T baseball team ended a tough week by ending on a note that shows signs the next week will be better. After falling behind early to Davidson in the second the game of a Saturday doubleheader, the Aggies rallied late but came up short in a 5-4 loss at Wilson Field. The Wildcats defeated the Aggies 12-1 in Game 1. N.C. A&T (20-19) finished the week 0-5, but all five were non-conference games.
A mid-game substitution that allowed junior Adan Ordonez to enter the game may have gotten the Aggies going. Ordonez, a two-time All-MEAC performer, became the Aggies catcher in the fourth inning with the Aggies trailing 4-0. Ordonez's first at-bat came in the sixth inning after Forest Kimbrell singled and Brandon Melendez was hit by a pitch. Both men advanced a base on a Myles Sowell groundout. With two out, Ordonez stepped to the plate and hit a two-run RBI single to center to score Kimbrell and Melendez to make it a 4-2 game. Ordonez eventually moved to second on a Dawnoven Smith single, but the inning ended on a pop out by Camden Williamson.
An error in the Davidson sixth allowed the Wildcats to get one of those runs back. Aggies starter Marcello Betances (RHP) made a bad throw in a pickoff attempt of Justin Lebek. The errant throw allowed Lebek to advance to second and a Jake Sidwell groundout moved him to third. Lebek scored on a Max Bazin single to right center to give the Wildcats a 5-2 lead.
The Aggies challenged that lead over their final two at-bats. In the eighth, Brandon Melendez and Myles Sowell put together back-to-back one-out singles, which led to another RBI from Ordonez who singled to center field to bring home Melendez. Ordonez's single forced a Wildcat pitching change as Westin Whitmire entered the game to face Smith. Unfortunately, Smith grounded into a double play to end the inning.
Not deterred, the Aggies returned in the ninth inning to challenge the Wildcat lead again as Milton Rivera scored on a fielder's choice to cut Davidson's lead to 5-4. But with the tying run on second, Greg White lined out to short to end the game. Ordonez led the Aggies with a 2-for-2 day that included three RBI. Melendez and Sowell also had two hits apiece and Melendez scored twice. Betances went six innings for the Aggies, gave up four runs, walked four and struck out five as dropped to 3-4. Evan Roberts went 7 1/3 innings, gave three runs, walked none and struck out five to improve to 2-1.
Game 1 saw Rivera get three hits from designated hitter spot in the lineup as he scored the Aggies only run of the game. Melendez and Jarrett Norman had two hits apiece. The Aggies tied the game at 1 in the third inning on an RBI single from White. Davidson scored 11 unanswered runs to win the game. Kaeson Wilson (4-4) took the loss and Josh Smutzer (5-2) picked up the win.
N.C. A&T's slate of game's next week include a short trip to High Point to play High Point University 6 p.m., Tuesday. The Aggies will then return to conference play as Bethune-Cookman will try to challenge their first-place status in the MEAC Southern Division with a three-game series in Daytona Beach, Fla., starting with a 1 p.m., doubleheader on Saturday and a 1 p.m., contest on Sunday.
