HIGH POINT – North Carolina A&T scored seven runs on five hits, two walks and two errors in the eighth inning but still lost to the Appalachian State Mountaineers 12-8 Friday evening at Truist Point, home of the High Point Rockers baseball team.
Unfortunately, A&T's big inning came after they were already in a 12-1 deficit. A five-run third that included a two-run RBI single from Andrew Terrell gave the Mountaineers an 8-0 lead. The Aggies got on the board in the fifth as sophomore Canyon Brown walked and stole second with one out. TJ Ash brought him home with an RBI double before a ground out by Ivan Sierra, and a strikeout by Anthony Hennings ended the threat.
But the sixth inning saw App State score two unearned runs and one run on a hit by pitch with the bases loaded to force in a run and give the Mountaineers an 11-1 lead. Hayden Cross added another App State run in the seventh as he doubled and advanced to third on a wild pitch and home on another wild pitch.
A&T's highest-scoring inning of the young season started with a Sierra single, followed by a Hennings single. Sierra advanced to third on an error that occurred during the play to put runners at first and third. Maynard delivered the Aggies two runs with a two-run double to left center. Hennings went to third on a wild pitch before Luis Espinal walked. Junior Tre Williams came through with an RBI single to score Maynard to cut the Mountaineers lead to 12-4.
Shemar Dalton reached on an error by App State third baseman Andrew Terrell, moving Dalton to second, Williams to third and allowing Espinal to score. Brown walked to load the bases, setting up an RBI opportunity for Michael Logan that he turned into a two-run single, scoring Dalton and Williams to make it a 12-7 game.
Ash made the first out of the Aggies seventh on a groundout. Sierra followed with another groundout, but it scored Brown from third to cut the Mountaineers lead to four. The A&T seventh finally ended with a Hennings groundout. After right-handed pitcher Avery Cain got the Aggies through the App State ninth without any runs scored, the Aggies opened their ninth with Maynard striking out.
Espinal reached on an error, and Willams walked, but a ground ball to Terrell at third allowed him to step on the third base bag to force Espinal and then throw to first to throw out Dalton on the double play. The Aggies lost their second straight to drop to 3-2. App State improved to 5-0. Maynard went 2-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI. Williams and Ash had multiple-hit games, and Logan drove in two runs.
Xander Hamilton (2-0) went six innings, striking out nine to get the win. Luke Brown (0-1) got the loss. Cross went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI. The two teams will play again on Saturday at 3 p.m., from War Memorial Stadium. The original schedule had the Aggies playing at App State, but pending inclement weather in the Boone area forced the venue change.
