SAVANNAH, Ga. (April 21, 2018) – North Carolina A&T softball slipped into a fourth-place tie in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division with N.C. Central on Saturday after losing both games of a doubleheader to Savannah State, 7-0 and 5-4, at Lady Tiger Field.
The Tigers (10-20, 6-6 MEAC) and the Aggies (7-31, 4-7 MEAC) will play the series finale Sunday at noon.
After being shutout in Game 1, the Aggies appeared to be headed to a shutout of their own in Game 2 before a five-run rally in the SSU home of half of the seventh dropped the Aggies in the MEAC South standings.
Game 2 starter, junior Zadaisha Waddell, entered the SSU seventh with a 4-0 lead to protect. Waddell had pitched a gem to that point. She had a one-hit shutout going with four strikeouts to complement her efforts. The Tigers, however, put runners on second and third with one out in their final at-bat.
Cortni Jones then followed with an RBI bunt single to score Shelby Eccles from third to give the Tigers their first run. Elizabeth Humes then singled to center field. The single allowed Brianna Harris to score and a bad throw from center allowed Jones to score to cut the Aggies lead to one, 4-3. Humes was thrown out trying to advance to second on the play which put the Aggies one out away from splitting the Saturday doubleheader.
But Amanda Hallman kept the inning going for the Tigers by drawing a walk. Shayna Byers then reached on an error and Kelsey Cyrus walked to load the bases. Hallman tied the game at 4 on a wild pitch from Waddell and Peyton Mitchell produced the game-winning walk-off RBI single to center as Byers scored. Waddell (2-8) took the loss in the circle despite only giving up two earned runs. Despite a rough start, Faith Dickerson (1-8) held on for the win in the circle.
Freshman Nijah McCray led the Aggies by going 2-for-4 with a run scored. Sophomore Stephanie Williams was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Raven Gray drove in two runs. N.C. A&T's offense got going early as back-to-back singles from McCray and senior Nathaly Pacheco set up junior Mohagony Headen's RBI single down the left-field line for a 1-0 Aggies lead as McCray scored.
Things stayed silent until the fifth when junior Zadia Davis hit a one-out single to left. McCray followed with a single and Waddell walked with two outs to load the bases. Gray then put the Aggies ahead 3-0 with a two-run RBI single to center as Davis and McCray crossed the plate. The Aggies increased their lead to 4-0 in the sixth as Williams' leadoff double led to an RBI groundout by freshman Azaria Isbell. The Tigers went quietly in their sixth before staging the rally.
N.C. A&T struggled to put runs on the board in the first game despite solid offensive showings from Davis who was 2-for-4 and Waddell who was 2-for-3. The Tigers got off to a fast start with four runs in the first and two runs in the third. The Aggies had their opportunities to answer but left two on in the second, two on in the third and two on the fifth.
Headen (5-7) took the loss in the circle, while Hallman (7-9) got the win.
