North Carolina A&T (7-13, 2-2 MEAC) at Florida A&M (5-16, 0-0 MEAC)
Date: Friday, March 26-28
Time: 5 pm.; 1 p.m. DH (7-inning games); 12 p.m.
Facility: Moore-Kittles Field                
PROBABLE STARTERS:  LF Justin Rodriguez (.305, 4 HR, 15 RBI, 13 runs); CF Shane Faulk (.250, 0 HR, 4 RBI, 15 runs); RF Cameran Brantley (.329, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 15 runs); 3B Trevor Sheehan (.279, 2 HR, 13 RBI, 9 runs); SS Dustin Baber (.260, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 9 runs); 2B Tony Mack (.150, 0 HR, 6 RBI, 5 runs); 1B Justin Williams (.273, 2 HR, 12 RBI, 10 runs); C Ryne Stanley (.227, 1 HR, 7 RBI, 10 runs); DH Camden Williamson (.238, 0 HR, 1 RBI, 3 runs) 
 
PROBABLE WEEKEND ROTATION: 
Friday – RHP Michael Johnson (0-3, 4.61 ERA, 19 K) 
 Saturday Game 1 – LHP Derek Martinez (0-2, 7.02 ERA, 19 K) 
 Saturday Game 2 – RHP Xavier Meachem (0-4, 9.00 ERA, 11 K) 
 Sunday – TBA

 WHO'S ON FIRE: The Aggie pitching staff combined for 25 strikeouts in two games on Sunday, led by senior right-hander Evan Gates' career-high 11. Gates has thrown 21.1 innings and surrendered just two runs, one earned, on 10 hits with a team-best 34 strikeouts. He is 16^th in the country in earned run average (0.42) and 34^th in strikeouts per nine innings (14.34). 
 
AGGIES OVERVIEW:  The North Carolina A&T baseball team is riding a two-game winning streak after sweeping the N.C. Central Eagles last Sunday evening. They head south to the sunshine state for a four-game series against the FAMU Rattlers in the second weekend of MEAC action. The Aggies split last weekend's series against the NCCU, losing twice on Saturday. A&T has found the most success when they jump out to an early advantage as they are 5-2 when leading after the third inning and 5-0 when leading after the fifth. They are just 3-11 when their opponent scores first. The Aggies are first in the conference in hits (169), doubles (36), total bases (243), sacrifice bunts (14) and sacrifice flies (11). Sophomore Cameran Brantley leads the team with his .329 batting average. He sports a team-high 24 hits and 36 total bases on the season. Junior Justin Rodriguez has team-highs in home runs (4) and RBI (15). Head coach Ben Hall is in his seventh season and has a 126-174 overall record. He is 62-62 in the MEAC, but 47-25 over the previous three seasons.
 
 RATTLERS OVERVIEW:  The Rattlers are coming off a split weekend series against Florida Gulf Coast. FAMU was projected to finish second in the MEAC's southern division by MEAC head coaches and sports information directors. They received three first-place votes and had five players receive preseason all-conference honors. Junior third baseman Tristan Cooper earned the lone first-teamer honor. Second-team Rattlers included seniors Kyle Coleman, Jeremiah McCollum, Seyjuan Lawrence and junior Jared Weber. As a team, the Rattlers are last in the league in batting average (.202). LJ Bryant leads the Rattlers with a .294 batting average and a team-high 12 RBI.  On the flip side, FAMU sports the best team fielding percentage in the league (.970), just ahead of the Aggies (.958). Jamey Shouppe is in his eighth season as the skipper for the Rattlers and has an overall record of 164-180. He is 91-53 in the MEAC. 
 
News & Notes: 

• Fifth-year senior Ryne Stanley leads the nation in sacrifice bunts (5). Leon Davidson leads the nation in pitching appearances (12) and Cameron Brantley is fifth in the nation in walks (20).
• Last time these two teams met, the Rattlers beat the Aggies, 6-2, on May 18, 2019. 
• The Aggies have won 10 of the last 15 versus FAMU 
• In 2019, A&T was 16-8 in MEAC play.  
• The Aggies have 11 players with two or more multi-hit games, led by Baber with seven. 
• A&T has had four players (Brantley, Sheehan, Johnson, Ash) receive conference weekly honors this season.  
• The Aggies were picked to win the league in the MEAC preseason poll as voted on by the conference's head coaches and sports information directors.