DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (April 30, 2017) – The hotly contested Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division baseball race received more fire on Sunday. North Carolina A&T and the Bethune-Cookman Wildcats added fuel as the Wildcats defeated the Aggies 9-6 at Jackie Robinson Park. North Carolina Central defeated Savannah State 11-2 on Sunday, giving four teams seeking three MEAC tournament berths at least 10 wins.
The Aggies (21-21, 11-7 MEAC) and Florida A&M (23-19, 11-7 MEAC) are percentage points ahead of B-CU (25-20, 12-8 MEAC). NCCU's win puts them at 10-10 as the four teams jockey for position ahead of the tournament, May 17-20 in Salisbury, Md. Only three of the four teams will earn a tournament berth out of the South.
Junior Milton Rivera got the Aggies going in the first inning when he sent a 2-0 pitch delivered by B-CU starter Tyler Krull over the left-field fence for a 1-0 Aggies lead. But the Wildcats started to build a lead of their own in the first inning. The Wildcats put together a five-hit first with the mightiest blow coming from Nate Sterijevski who hit a two-run home run in the inning off Aggies starter Kaeson Wilson (RHP). Sterijevski's home run gave the Wildcats a 4-1 lead. N.C. A&T cut into that lead in the third when team RBI-leader Adan Ordonez singled to center field to score Rivera from second.
An RBI sacrifice fly in the third gave the Wildcats a 5-2 lead. Another sac fly in the fourth pushed the lead to 6-2. After the sac fly, Demetrius Sims walked and moved to second on a Kyle Corbin single. Junior Josh Bottenfield (RHP) replaced Wilson on the mound but gave up an RBI single to Jameel Edney to put the Wildcats ahead 7-2. A groundout to shortstop by Danny Rodriguez completed the three-run fourth for the Wildcats. A Rodriguez homer in the seventh increased the Wildcats lead to 9-2.
N.C. A&T tried to rally in the eighth. Junior Greg White led the inning with a single followed by a double from Dawnoven Smith. Redshirt sophomore A.J. Hunt brought White home with an RBI single to right. Ivan Coutinho entered the game to relieve Joseph Calamita. Senior Kyle Clary greeted him with an RBI single that scored Smith to cut the Wildcats lead to 9-4. The Aggies continued to threaten the Wildcats as Hunt and Clary advanced to third and second on a wild pitch. One out later, Myles Sowell singled to right to score Hunt. Brandon Melendez's swing and miss on the third strike got away from B-CU catcher Chase DeBonis, prompting Melendez to run to first. DeBonis' throw went into right field, allowing Melendez to go to second and Clary to score. Sowell, however, was thrown out trying to score for the second out of the inning. With lead cut to 9-6 and Melendez at second, Rivera flew out to right to end the inning.
White did reach on an error in the ninth, but Coutinho struck out back-to-back Aggies to end the game. Wilson (4-6) took the loss while Krull (5-1) picked up the win. Rivera went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. White, Hunt and Clary had two hits apiece.
The Aggies have a non-conference midweek game at Winthrop 6 p.m., Wednesday. They return to conference play this weekend when they open a three-game series at Savannah State on Saturday, May 6.
