ROCK HILL – The North Carolina A&T softball team lost two games during the second day of the Winthrop Eagle Classic hosted by Winthrop University on Saturday at Terry Field.
The Aggies lost their late afternoon game to the Marist Red Foxes, 9-1, in six innings. Later in the evening, the Nevada Wolf Pack defeated the Aggies 10-2 in five innings. A&T dropped to 1-4 on the season and will continue its play in the classic on Saturday with a 12:30 p.m., game against Queens University of Charlotte and a 5 p.m. contest against tournament host Winthrop.
Dezianna Patmon led the Aggies against Marist by going 1-for-3 with an RBI double. With the Aggies trailing 6-0 going into the visitor's sixth inning, junior Kiara Richards hit a one-out single to right field before being eliminated from the base paths on a fielder's choice that allowed senior Latianna Langley to reach first base.
Langley went to second on a wild pitch before Patmon's RBI double scored her to put the Aggies on the board. Senior Jai Deese popped out to end the Aggies threat. Marist ignited the eight-run lead rule after five innings in the home half of the sixth, scoring three runs on a Haley Ahr three-run home run that ended the game.
Ahr led the Red Foxes by going 2-for-5 with five RBI. Marist's Cal Phippen (1-0) got the win in the circle by pitching six innings, striking out eight and not walking an A&T batter. Senior Kayla Douglas (0-3) took the loss.
Against Nevada, Carly Brown (1-1) got the win for the Wolf Pack, and Aggies junior Sharla Kilpatrick (0-1) got the loss. Junior Alyxx Estrada and graduate Jocelyn Bennett drove in runs for A&T, including Bennett hitting her first homer of the season. Bennett's home run, the fifth of her career, came in the visitor's second, giving the Aggies a 1-0 lead.
Nevada's offense came alive after the Bennett blast with three runs apiece in the second, third and fourth innings to give the Wolf Pack a 9-1 lead going into the Aggies fifth. The Aggies needed a run in the fifth to avoid the eight-run rule, and they got it.
Deese got things going with a single and a stolen bases to get into scoring position. Junior Kayla Taylor then drew a one-out walk before a Patmon strikeout left the Wolf Pack one out away from victory. Estrada halted those plans with an RBI single to center, scoring Deese before freshman Megan Ellis popped out to end the inning.
Unfortunately, the Wolf Pack did get the run it needed to end the game in the fifth on an RBI single from Haylee Engelbrecht to score Gabby Herrera to give the Wolf Pack an eight-run lead at 10-2. Charli Hawkins led the Wolf Pack by going 1-for-3, including a two-run homer.
