ASHEVILLE – The wait is over. North Carolina A&T secured its first-ever baseball win in Big South Conference play as the Aggies defeated the UNC Asheville Bulldogs 6-5 in 11 innings on Friday at Greenwood Baseball Field.
The Aggies (11-17, 1-6 Big South) put together an impressive fourth inning, overcame a ninth-inning rally and manufactured a run in the 11th to win.
Sophomore right-hander Xavier Meachem (1-2) got the win in relief. Meachem clinched the win by striking out the first two batters he faced in the home 11th before getting Cam Johnson to fly out to end the game.
"Good to break the ice and ice and get that first conference win," said A&T head coach Ben Hall. "Winning at this level isn't easy. And this game wasn't any different."
That's the truth.
The Aggies had a 5-2 lead going into the UNCA ninth. Freshman RHP Evan Demurias appeared poise to help A&T get conference win No. 1 as his strikeout of Grayson Preslar opened the inning. Even after surrendering a single to Ty Kaufman, Demurias got Dominic Freeberger to fly out for out No. 2.
But the momentum quickly transitioned in the Bulldogs' favor. Robbie Burnett's double into the right field corner put Bulldogs on third and second, and a walk to Dylan Bacot loaded the bases for Michael Groves.
Before Groves stepped into the batter's box, the Aggies replaced Demurias with Meachem on the mound. Meachem walked Groves on five pitches to force in a run before Johnson hit a game-tying two-run RBI single to center to send the game into extra innings tied at 5.
A&T did get a runner on in the 10th as junior Anthony Hennings reached on an error moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Camden Jackson before reaching third on a throwing error. But sophomore Chet Sikes' strikeout ended the inning.
Meachem returned the favor in the UNCA 10th by getting the Bulldogs to strand runners at third and second by striking out Burnett.
Freeberger, who entered the game in the 10th to strike out Sikes, opened the 11th by hitting junior Cort Maynard. A sac bunt from graduate Alec Seaton moved Maynard into scoring position before sophomore Alex Reyna's sac fly moved Maynard to third.
With freshman Canyon Brown at the plate, Freeberger then unleashed a wild pitch to score Maynard and give the Aggies a 6-5 lead before Meachem's terrific 11th.
"We made some mistakes in some spots that hurt us, but we also made a bunch of plays and made some big pitches in others," said Hall. "The guys played hard and got the job done."
A&T did an excellent job of executing in the fourth after falling behind 2-0. Sophomore Xavier Bussey and Jackson opened the frame with singles, followed by an RBI single from Sikes to put the Aggies on the board.
With the infield in expecting a bunt, Maynard pushed a single passed a diving Kaufman at shortstop to score Jackson and tie the game at 2. Seaton did lay down a successful bunt afterward to put runners at third and second with one out.
UNCA then replaced their starter, Zeus Ponder with Cole Schiff on the mound. It did not phase Reyna as his bunt scored Sikes and moved Maynard to third. An errant pickoff throw to first by Schiff advanced Reyna to second and allowed Maynard to score for a 4-2 Aggies lead.
An RBI sac fly from Sikes gave the Aggies a 5-2 lead in the fifth before UNCA's comeback in the ninth. Junior LHP Daniel Carter got the start and posted five strikeouts over four innings. Sophomore RHP Jake Delisi pitched three scoreless innings of relief. Sikes recorded two RBI and Bussey went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
"I would like to see us come out tomorrow and play the complete game for 27 outs and build off this win," said Hall.
