LEXINGTON, S.C. – North Carolina A&T Aggies dropped the rubber game against Butler, 2-1, on Saturday evening at Lexington County Baseball Stadium. The Aggies are now 1-2 on the season.
 
"Disappointed to drop another close game when you pitched as well as we did," said N.C. A&T coach Ben Hall. "We just had too many strikeouts to get any consistency going on the offensive side."
 
It was a pitchers' duel between all throughout. The Aggies held Butler (3-0) to just three hits while mustering six hits of their own. Senior right-hander Cole Parks got the ball for N.C. A&T and surrendered three hits in five innings of work while striking out seven Bulldogs.
 
"I'm really happy to see Cole get his first start and do what we've seen him do in preseason," said Hall about the Winston-Salem State transfer. "Then, follow that up with two veterans to give us a chance to win in the ninth."
 
In the bottom of the first, Butler's Zach Jarosz singled to right field and stole second afterwards. Then, Duncan Hewitt singled and brought Jarosz home to put the Bulldogs up 1-0. In the second inning, Butler tacked on a crucial insurance run to go up 2-0. Brody McGrath reached on a fielding error by the Aggies and advanced to second on a passed ball. He made it to third on a groundout and scored on a wild pitch.
 
Both teams went scoreless over the next five innings. N.C. A&T had a golden opportunity with the bases loaded and no outs in their third, but after a strikeout and a double play, the inning ended.
 
Butler's Jack Myers impressed by going seven innings and allowing four hits while striking out 14 batters.
 
But in the eighth, the Bulldogs replaced Myers with Alex Voss and N.C. A&T jumped on him immediately. Dustin Baber singled to left field and Camden Williamson doubled to advance Baber to third. Alex Bibb came to the plate and grounded out but scored Baber to cut the deficit to one. Senior catcher Ryne Stanley grounded out to end the inning stranding Williamson at third.
 
The Aggies stranded eight runners in the game. In the top of the ninth, N.C. A&T couldn't muster anything and eventually fell to the Bulldogs.
 
"Baseball is a quick turnaround," said Hall. "So we'll get back to work and make some offensive adjustments to be better leading into Monday."
 
Next up, the Aggies will return home to Greensboro, N.C. for their home opener on Tuesday, Feb. 18 against Appalachian State at War Memorial Stadium.