EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T defeated the Gardner-Webb Runnin' Bulldogs 3-2 Sunday at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex to win its first Big South Conference series in program history by taking two of three from GWU.
Sophomore Kendall Macauley scored the game-winning run in the home half of the fifth inning after fellow sophomore Alyxx Estrada tied the game in the same inning with an RBI groundout.
Freshman Icess Tresvik (3-3) got the win in the circle after another spectacular outing where she pitched a complete-game, five-hitter, where she struck out 11. In two appearances in the series, Tresvik combined for 24 strikeouts.
GWU happened to get to Tresvik early, however. Kate Mitchell hit a one-out single through the left side, and Andrea Lyon followed with a double to left field to score Mitchell for a 1-0 Bulldogs lead in the visitor's first.
With two out in the frame, three straight walks, the final one to McKenzie Lawrence led to the Bulldogs' second run as the base on balls forced Lyon home. Tresvik recorded another strikeout and got A&T out of the jam by getting Kayleigh Nicholson to swing and miss on a 3-2 pitch.
After being no-hit on Saturday by GWU starter Sydney Gilbert, the Aggies wasted no time making sure that did not happen on Sunday. Macauley led off the Aggies first with a triple to center field. Two batters later, Tresvik singled up the middle to score Mcauley to cut the Bulldogs lead in half, 2-1.
Tresvik went into shutdown mode after the first, retiring eight straight batters before giving up a bunt single in the fourth. During that span, she struck out the side in the second inning. Tresvik escaped the fourth without too much trouble. She retired GWU in order in the fifth, which included two strikeouts.
The Aggies then put her in a position to win the game in the circle in the home fifth.
A&T put runners on first and second to open the inning as graduate Jazzmaine Hammond earned an infield single and a pitch hit Macauley. Both runners moved into scoring position on a wild pitch.
Estrada then stepped in for her RBI groundout to score Hammond to tie the game at 2. Freshman Dezianna Patmon then hit into a fielder's choice after Lyon, GWU's first baseman, threw home to try to throw out Macauley coming home.
But Macauley slid under the tag for her game-winning run.
"This team has a lot of heart," said A&T coach Patti Raduenz. "I'm so proud of our players, the passion they have. The dedication they have to each other, and they keep on fighting. We came out in that first game and truly dominated. Gardner-Webb flipped the script on us for that second game. We had the rubber match today, and they came out and fought."
GWU did have a runner reach third in the sixth, but a Tresvik strikeout of Lawrence kept the Aggies in front. Tresvik recorded back-to-back strikeouts on six pitches to open the GWU seventh.
But Abbey Goodrum singled up the middle on a 1-2 pitch. Goodrum stole second and attempted to steal third base, but Jocelyn Bennett threw down to Estrada at shortstop for the final out of the game.
Tresvik pitched 14 innings during the series and had a 1.50 ERA while holding the Bulldogs to a .133 batting average.
Hammond went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Macauley scored twice, going 1-for-2, and Estrada, Patmon, and Tresvik recorded an RBI.
