LONGWOOD, Fla. – North Carolina A&T softball completed a comeback win in the first game of the Spring Games, Friday at Boombah Soldiers Creek Field as the Aggies defeated Detroit Mercy 8-7 in eight innings. 

The Aggies lost their second game of the day to Cleveland State, 10-6. The Aggies are 3-17 on the season.

Detroit Mercy (2-18) led the Aggies 6-1 after the fifth inning, but N.C. A&T scored three runs in the sixth inning and two runs in the seventh inning to tie the game at 6. 
In the extra inning, each team placed a runner on second base to begin their respective eighth innings. The Titans scored a run in the top half of the inning to take a 7-6 lead. 

Tivonia Cole was placed on second to start the Aggies eighth and tied the game when junior Stephanie Williams singled to center field. Latianna Langley walked to advance Williams into scoring position. Samantha Ramirez moved the runners to third and second as she grounded out to shortstop. 

It set up the game-winning play for the Aggies as junior Hailee Cutts hit a groundball to Alyssa Lang at short. Smith decided to throw home, but her throw home was late as junior second baseman Stephanie Williams beat the throw to score the winning run. 

 "We came off a tough weekend at N.C. State," said N.C. A&T coach Patti Raduenz said.  "We learned a lot about ourselves as a program and as individuals. This team is about never quitting and never giving up.  I was glad to see them rewarded for fighting to the end and get the W."

Against Detroit Mercy, Boyd led the team going 3-for-4 with an RBI. Williams and sophomore shortstop Nikki Varela each went 2-for-4 with two runs scored.  Freshman Kayla Brown had a pinch-hit two-run RBI single. 

Junior Bayleigh Kirby (1-5) picked up the win in relief pitching the final five innings giving up two runs, one earned, on two hits with five strikeouts.  Freshman Kayla Douglas started the game pitching three innings giving up five runs on seven hits.

The Aggies started their comeback in the sixth inning. Before the comeback, Detroit Mercy had the bases loaded after three walks in the top of the sixth inning, but a fly out to left field ended the Titans threat. 

The Aggies started the bottom half of the inning with a Varela single to left field. She advanced to second on an error and then moved to third on a groundout. Sophomore third baseman Desttany Parker groundout to second base to drive home Varela to cut the lead to 6-2.

Sophomore Cinsear Saunders earned a pinch-hit walk and Cole reached on an error before Williams loaded the bases by reaching on a fielder's choice. Pinch hitting for Langely, Brown delivered with a two-run single to cut the lead to 6-4. 

After the Titans went down in order in the seventh, Cutts started the inning with a walk and freshman Latyya McIntyre pinch ran for Cutts.  Varela doubled down the right field line to advance McIntyre to third.

After a pitching change, Boyd delivered with an RBI single to drive home Varela. A throwing error scored McIntyre to tie the game and eventually send the contest into extra innings. 

Detroit Mercy was led by Ellie Boteler going 2-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored. Cami Sinclair blew the save giving up two runs on one hit without recording an out and Liz Murphy (1-9) picked up the loss pitching the final 1.1 innings giving up two runs, one earned and two hits.

In the second game, the Aggies had the lead, lost it, gained the lead again and lost it before the Vikins (4-7) pulled away late. 

Cutts went 2-for-3 with two RBI against the Vikings. Varela went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored. Parker drove in two runs.  The Aggies took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first before the Vikings tied the game at 2 in the first. N.C. A&T took the lead in the second, however. Cole walked to open the inning followed by a Williams single. 

Langley reached on a fielder's choice to the shortstop. An error at third base allowed Cole to reach third safely to load the bases with no outs. Ramirez reached on a fielder's choice as Cole was thrown out at home. Cutts singled to right field to drive home two runs to give the Aggies a 4-2 lead. 

Varela groundout to the second baseman to drive home Ramirez for the 5-2. Cleveland State scored three runs in the bottom half of the inning to tie the game at 5. The Vikings broke the tie in the fifth inning by scoring a run on a wild pitch. The Vikings scored CSU scored four runs in the sixth inning for a 10-5 lead. 

The Aggies tried to mount another comeback in the seventh inning.  Cutts started the inning with a single up the middle and senior Alyssa Smith pinch ran for Cutts.  Varela singled to center field to advance Smith to second base. Boyd singled to center field, but Smith was gunned down at home and the runners moved up to second and third on the throw. Parker singled to center field to drive home Varela and advance Boyd to third base. 
 
But a groundout to the pitcher recorded the second out of the inning putting runners at second and third. Cole walked to load the bases, but a hot shot to first base ended the inning and the game.

Cleveland State was led by Sydney Bajusz going 3-for-4 with three RBI and a run scored. Hanna Griffin (1-2) picked up the win in relief pitching the final 5.1 innings giving up one run on five hits.

On the day, Boyd was 4-for-7 and Valera was 4-for-8 with three runs scored. In the circle, Kirby had a combined 10 strikeouts.  The Aggies face Valparaiso at 4 p.m. Saturday and finishes the tournament with Charleston Southern at 9 a.m. and Long Island at 11:30 a.m. Sunday.