GREENSBORO (March 27, 2018) -- North Carolina A&T softball played a rare conference/non-conference doubleheader at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex Tuesday. Both of N.C. A&T's opponents, conference foe S.C. State and non-conference adversary Elon overcame N.C. A&T leads as SCSU defeated the Aggies 3-1. Later, Elon beat N.C. A&T 7-2.
In Tuesday's earlier game, the Aggies were playing the final game of a three-game Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference series against the Bulldogs. The two teams had to play Monday and Tuesday because inclement weather forced the postponement of their original game days of Saturday and Sunday. N.C. A&T (5-23, 2-1 MEAC) swept a doubleheader from the Bulldogs (1-14, 1-2 MEAC) on Monday.
In looking for the three-game sweep, the Aggies took a 1-0 lead in the second. With runners on first and third, the Aggies put on a double steal as sophomore Stephanie Williams took off for second base. As the throw went down to the throw her out, senior Raven Gray sprinted toward home plate and scored.
Freshman N.C. A&T starter Hailee Cutts had a good start as she retired the first six batters she faced. The Bulldogs, however, evened the score in the third as Jada Lake hit a two-out RBI double to right-center field to score Meagan Prunty.
Cutts didn't run into serious trouble again until the sixth. She surrendered a one-out walk to Lake which was followed up by a wild pitch to move Lake into scoring position. Back-to-back singles from Shana Abram and Jada Richardson gave SCSU the lead as Richardson drove in Lake from third. Kaneisha Pettiford loaded the bases with another single which led N.C. A&T head coach Kenya Peters to make a change in the circle as she turned to junior Zadaisha Waddell with one out in the inning.
Waddell got Dezirae Rhodes to hit a slow grounder back to the circle. Waddell fired a throw home to force out Abram at home. Catcher Samantha Ramirez tried to end the inning by throwing out Rhodes going to first. The throw was too late. Richardson took advantage of the throw to first by scoring from second base to give the Bulldogs a 3-1 lead. The Aggies put two runners on the sixth, but could not get the runners across.
The Aggies were retired in order in the seventh as Cutts (0-8) took the loss and Lake (1-8) got the win. Six different Aggies accounted for the Aggies six hits in Game 1.
In the sixth inning of the first game, the Elon Phoenix arrived at the LASC for a game they already had scheduled to play against the Aggies. Once the Aggies and the Phoenix started playing, it looked as if the Aggies got over the loss to SCSU quickly.
Nijah McCrary opened the Aggies first with a single. She moved to second on a sacrifice bunt before Waddell brought her home on an RBI single to center. Sophomore Alyssa Green followed by doubling to left center to put runners on second and third, but the Aggies were not able to get them across. The Aggies were not deterred, however, as Williams opened the Aggies second with a single up the middle.
Williams went to second on a passed ball. Williams was trapped between second and third when Azaria Isbell hit a groundball to the circle. Williams somehow got out of the rundown by advancing to third as Isbell went to second in the process. Junior Mohagony Headen then singled through the right side for an RBI single to score Williams for a 2-0 lead.
Waddell, the Aggies starter in Game 2, kept the Phoenix scoreless until the fifth when pinch runner Morgan Reich scored on a Hannah Olson sacrifice fly. The Phoenix (18-13) tied the game in the sixth on an RBI single by Abby Barker. They then took the lead 4-2 on a two-run RBI single from Kristin Hoover. Elon finished out with seven unanswered runs as Ally Repko hit a three-run homer in the seventh.
Four Aggies had two-hit ballgames against the Phoenix in Gray, Green, Williams and Headen. Waddell (1-4) took the loss in the circle while Kenna Quinn (4-4) got the win.
The Aggies return to conference play on Friday when they host Bethune-Cookman for a 1 p.m., doubleheader at the LASC. The series finale is 12 p.m., Saturday.
