EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T fell in both games of a Big South Conference softball doubleheader Saturday to conference leader USC Upstate at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex.
A&T lost Game 1, 9-0, in five innings before the Upstate Spartans secured a 5-0 win in the second contest. The Aggies are 12-24 on the year and 2-12 in Big South play. The Spartans improved to 38-3 overall and 12-2 in league play.
Junior Kayla Douglas (0-3) picked up the loss in the first game after pitching 4.2 innings. She gave up five earned runs on seven hits.
In the first inning, USC Upstate took a 3-0 lead after Summer Johnson connected on an RBI single to left center field, and Peyton Darnell recorded a two-run double.
The Aggies had an opportunity to score in the second. Sophomore Alyxx Estrada started the inning with a walk, followed by a one-out single by sophomore Kayla Taylor. A strikeout and a fly out to left field ended the threat, however.
Darnell struck again for the Spartans in the third when she doubled to left center. A throwing error by Aggies shortstop allowed Darnell to reach third. Caroline Jacquay, who was on base as a pinch runner after Johnson walked, scored on the play to give the Spartans a 4-0 advantage.
Upstate added another run in the fourth after a Casey Goguts triple led to an RBI single from Marisa Soterakis for a 4-0 lead. The Spartans added four more runs in the visitor's fifth to take a nine-run advantage and put the Aggies in danger of being run-ruled.
But A&T had an opportunity to extend the game in the home fifth. Senior Jocelyn Bennett hit a one-out single to left and was replaced by senior pinch runner Vivica Boyd. Boyd advanced to second on a groundout, and Kendall Macauley kept the rally going with a single to left. However, the threat and the game ended with runners on the corners on a strikeout.
In the second game, freshmen Icess Tresvik and Dezianna Patmon had two hits apiece.
Freshman Mariah Headen (1-5) took the loss after one inning of work, where she gave up two runs, one earned, and three hits. Freshman Joey Barkhimer pitched the final six innings giving up three runs, none earned, on six hits.
Upstate scored first as Sarah Price led off the game with a double and scored on a throwing error. Tiffany Domingue also doubled with no outs. Johnson then reached on a fielder's choice and moved to second when Domingue got caught in a rundown. Johnson gave the Spartans a 2-0 lead on a Darnell RBI double.
In the third, RBI by Celeste Delorenzo and Bella Bertot gave the Spartans a 4-0 lead. Bertot also had an RBI single in the seventh.
The Aggies had an opportunity to score in the first. Tresvik hit a one-out single through the left side, followed by a single to the right from Patmon. An Estrada groundout to advance the runners into scoring position with two outs. But freshman Jailyn Tineo fouled out to the catcher to end the inning.
A&T had another opportunity in the third. Tresvik and Patmon both hit two-out singles, but Estrada grounded out to end the threat.
