By Spencer Turkin
special to ncataggies.com

WACO, TEXAS - Over the past two seasons, North Carolina A&T's baseball team has played and beaten multiple Power 5 opponents.

 In 2020 before the COVID-19 pandemic halted the season, the Aggies defeated Boston College of the ACC twice at War Memorial Stadium. In 2019, the SEC's South Carolina Gamecocks fell victim to A&T in Columbia, S.C.
 
 This year, the pandemic presented the Aggies with a new challenge, an opportunity at a four-game series in Waco against the Baylor Bears. 
 
Four straight losses to the Bears before Easter means the Aggies did not come away with an additional Power 5 victory. But the opportunity to play a Big 12 school is not only an excellent experience for the current players but a significant step forward in showing recruits you can schedule some big names. 
 
How did the opportunity come about? 
 
College baseball games typically are scheduled a year or two in advance; however, with the uncertainty brought about with playing a season amid a pandemic, A&T received its MEAC schedule at a much later date than usual. 
 
With an off weekend built-in, the Aggies needed to fill the hole with games. Head coach Ben Hall turned to the message board on CollegeBaseballInsider.com and worked out an agreement with Baylor.
 
 "Baylor had an open weekend," Hall said. "I sent (Baylor) Coach (Steven) Rodriguez an email to see what would be possible, and at that time, they needed some games. When we talked about it as a coaching staff and with (Athletics Director Earl) Hilton about it, it just became a really neat opportunity for the program."
 
 Though the entire athletics department will not move to the Big South until July 1, Hall and his staff have already been operating as if the transition has taken place – not only on the recruiting front but in scheduling.
 
 "As we grow as a program, these are the types of series other mid-majors play," explained Hall, who is in his seventh season at the helm of the Aggies. "You see them go and play Power 5s on a weekend or early in the year, and if you ever want to progress to be that program that is in a regional year in and year out, this is the level of baseball you're going to have to play to be successful in the postseason."
 
 A&T has struggled out of the gate this season, with a combination of injuries, inconsistent pitching, and a high strikeout rate (26 percent), placing them in an unfamiliar position, 7-21 overall and 2-6 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC). 
 
"Continuing to challenge your team, whether you are playing your best baseball or you're working yourself toward it, there is a process that goes to building your season," said Hall, who played for Clemson in an NCAA Super Regional at Baylor in 2005. "If we were rolling, we would have been excited for this weekend. Where we are today, we were still excited for this weekend because it's another opportunity to challenge our level of play and our concept of what wins baseball games."
 
 The Aggies don't travel to the Lone Star State often, so the squad indulged in the Texas delicacy of smoked brisket and cracked open a cold Dr. Pepper – which was created in the 1880s in Waco. But what they wanted to do most was pull off another Power 5 upset. That will have to wait as series like the one the Aggies played over the weekend will happen more often with the move to the Big South.