HAMPTON, Va. – North Carolina A&T said goodbye to a nine-game losing streak on Saturday with a 6-3 win over the Hampton Pirates in the second game of a Big South Conference softball doubleheader played at the Lady Pirates Softball Field on Saturday.
The Aggies snapped a 51-inning scoreless streak in Big South play in the first game but came up short 7-3. A&T ends the day at 13-27 overall and 3-15 in conference play. The Pirates are 16-28 and 6-12.
In Game 2, the Aggies took an early lead which thrust them into a commanding lead later. Freshman Icess Tresvik singled with one out and reached third by stealing second and third. By the time she reached third, however, the Aggies had two outs in the inning. But a blunder at first base by Kiaya Jeusi extended the inning and allowed Tresvik to score.
In Hampton's half of the first, however, the Pirates tied the game on an RBI triple from Jeusi.
A&T took over from there. Sophomore Kendall Macauley, the Big South leader in triples, hit her fifth of the season with a one-out triple in the third. It led to graduate Jazzmaine Hammond hitting a towering fly ball to center field that Casey Walker lost in the sun. The bright sun gave Hammond a two-run inside-the-park home run that catapulted the Aggies lead to 3-1.
A&T scored two more runs in the fourth after a two-out single by sophomore Kiara Richards set up a two-run blast off senior Jocelyn Bennett's bat, extending the Aggies lead to 5-1.
The hits kept coming for A&T in the fifth. Macauley started things off with a single to left field and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Hammond. Macauley put herself in a better position to score when she stole third.
Macauley's hard work paid off as freshman Dezianna Patmon delivered with an RBI single up the middle to give the Aggies a comfortable 6-1 advantage.
Hampton tried to make things a little uncomfortable in its half of the sixth. A two-out error by the Aggies put runners on first and third for the Pirates. A wild pitch by Aggies freshman starter Mariah Headen allowed Jeusi to score from third. Another wild pitch allowed Samyah Richardson to score, cutting A&T's lead to 6-3.
But after a caught stealing got the Aggies out of the sixth, Headen retired the first two batters she faced in the seventh. Mo'ne Davis did single, but Headen caused Janae Lyles to fly out to center to give the Aggies the long-awaited win.
Headen (2-5) pitched a complete game, giving up three runs, two earned on seven hits and striking out three. Macauley went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, and Richards went 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. Bennett hit her second home run of the season.
The first game saw Macauley go 2-for-4 with a run scored. Sophomore Alyxx Estrada went 2-for-2, including a double, and scored a run.
The Aggies ended their scoreless innings streak in conference play in the first game after a Macauley single and Hammond bunt single put runners at the corners with no outs. After Hammond stole second, Patmon hit a groundball to third, allowing Macauley to give the Aggies a 1-0 lead.
But Hampton took control from there. A three-run homer by Emily Kepple in the Hampton first quickly gave the Pirates a 3-1 lead. An RBI single from Davis increased Hampton's lead to three in the second. A double steal by Davis and Tiera Washington allowed Washington to score for a 5-1 Hampton lead.
Davis had an RBI triple in the fourth, followed by an RBI single from Lyles as Hampton went ahead by six runs.
A&T did get two runs back in the sixth. Patmon started the inning with a single down the left field line, and Estrada doubled to right to put the runners in scoring position. An RBI sacrifice fly by Tresvik scored Patmon and advanced Estrada to third.
Freshman Jailyn Tineo sent Estrada home on a groundout to short for the Aggies third run. Freshman Joey Barkhimer (5-5) took the loss in the circle.
