TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The North Carolina A&T Aggies fell to the Florida A&M Rattlers, 12-7, on Sunday afternoon at Moore-Kittles Field in Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) baseball. 

A&T drops to 7-17 overall and 2-6 in the conference. FAMU improves to 9-16 and 4-0 in the MEAC.

The Aggies fell behind 5-0 after three innings but came out firing in the visitor's fourth, plating six runs in the frame.

It all started when FAMu starter Josh Barr hit freshman Alex Reyna with a pitch. After Cameran Brantley walked, junior Justin Williams smacked an RBI single to left field that scored Reyna for A&T's first run.                 

Sophomore Grant Tilley followed with a monster three-run home run over the left-field wall, his first career four-bagger as an Aggie, to make it a 5-4 contest. 

 Freshman Connor Knapp walked but was picked off at first base before senior Dustin Baber drew a walk. A single to center field from senior Camden Williamson put runners on the corners with one out. Freshman TJ Ash walked to load the bases and senior Ryne Stanley, who leads the country in sacrifice bunts, laid down a bunt single to score Baber from third to tie the game at 5.

Having batted around, Reyna stepped into the box for the second time in the inning and flew out to left field deep enough to score Williamson to give the Aggies a 6-5 lead on the RBI sacrifice fly. 

A&T junior lefty Ethan Chavis (0-2) got the start on the mound and went 4.0 innings allowing eight runs on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts. In the fifth inning, the Aggies pulled him after Chavis surrendered a walk and two doubles that led to Rattlers tying the game at 6. 

  Freshman Justin O'Neal relieved Chavis and gave up another double, a two-run RBI double from LJ Bryant that gave the Rattlers an 8-6 lead. After a sac bunt moved Bryant to third, Seyjuan Lawrence gave the Rattlers a 9-6 lead with an RBI sac fly to right field. 

The Rattlers scored three more runs as Bryant secured an RBI single in the sixth and then hit a two-run home run in the eighth. 

The Aggies salvaged one more run in the contest. Brantley hit a one-out single to right and moved to second when junior Justin Williams popped out to center. He headed to third after Tilley flew out to center. The attempt to throw him out going to third was an errant one, allowing him to score to make a 12-7 ballgame. 

Williamson had a team-high three hits for A&T. Tilley tallied three RBI to lead the team. Williams and Reyna each had multi-hit games.

Bryant went 4-for-4 with five RBI and four runs scored to pace the Rattlers. Zach Morea (2-0) got the win in relief after going 4.2 innings without giving up a run. 

Next up for the Aggies is Power 5 opponent Baylor. The Aggies have defeated a Power 5 team in each of the last two seasons with a win over the University of South Carolina in 2019 and two wins over Boston College last season.