EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T sophomore right-hander Jaheim Brown had perhaps his best outing of the season. The Aggies middle relief was excellent, and sophomore closer Xavier Meachem threw 14 pitches to complete the task as the Aggies defeated the Towson 6-3 in the second game of a Saturday doubleheader to take two out of three from the Tigers in a three-game Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) baseball three-game series at War Memorial Stadium.
Towson won the first game of the day 10-3 as Towson's Brian Heckelman hit a three-run homer run. After taking two of three from the Tigers, the Aggies are 8-7 overall and 2-1 in the CAA. Towson dropped to 4-12 overall and 1-2 in league play.
Brown (W, 1-1) pitched six innings, surrendering eight hits and two earned runs. He also recorded four strikeouts and walked only one Tiger. Brown, however, did not get off to the ideal start. Towson put runners on first and second on a walk and a single.
Heckelman then singled to left to score James Moses from second before being thrown at second by Cameran Brantley. Casey Bishop, who singled earlier, advanced to third on the play before scoring on a groundout by Bryce Frederick to give Towson a 2-0 lead. But the Aggies offensive rallied around their starter.
A&T scored five unanswered runs over their first five-at bats of the game. Junior Camden Jackson got A&T on the board with a two-run homer in the second. In the third, sophomore Sabin Roane extended his reached base safely streak to six games as he opened the frame with a walk. He moved around the bases on a wild pitch and a groundout before junior Cort Maynard brought him home on a groundout to shortstop.
The Aggies took a three-run lead in the fifth as TJ Ash opened the inning with a double down the left field line. Ash has hit safely in 13 of the Aggies 15 games this season. Roane extended his hitting streak to five games as he reached on a bunt single. Thanks to a throwing error, Ash scored on the play to put A&T ahead 4-2.
Brandon Jung kept the Aggies rally going when he hit sophomore Shemar Dalton with a 2-2 pitch. RHP Andalo Santangelo replaced Jung on the mound and got Maynard to hit a groundout, advancing Roane to third and Dalton to second. It led sophomore Canyon Brown to drive home Roane on an RBI sacrifice fly to center to give the Aggies a 5-2 lead.
Brown returned to the stump to start the sixth and gave up an RBI sac fly to Reyce Curnane to bring the Tigers to within two. Brown ended his day by getting Jordan Peyton to pop out to end the sixth. The Aggies then turned to their bullpen, starting with junior RHP Justin Poris. After walking Moses with one out, he got out of the inning thanks to a 6-4-3 double play.
Junior RHP Jake Delisi took over the pitching duties for A&T in the eighth. He gave up a two-out single to Elijah Dickerson and walked Jeremy Wagner before striking out Curnane to end the inning. Per the usual script thus far this season, the Aggies gave the ball to Meachem with a lead late in the game. Meachem retired the Tigers in order, striking out the last two batters he faced to end the game and earn his fourth save of the season.
Roane remains hot offensively for A&T after going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. He is 11-for-19 (.579) at the plate with five RBI in his last five games. Ash went 3-for-4, and junior Anthony Hennings went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Four Tigers had two-hit games in the second game, led by Heckelman, who also had an RBI. Towson Game 2 starter Shayne Clowar (0-3) got the loss.
Game 1 winning pitcher was Justin Rebok. Coley Kilpatrick (L, 1-3) went five innings for A&T in the first game, striking out three and walking four. Towson scored the first 10 runs of the game before the Aggies got on the board in the home seventh with three runs. Brantley led the Aggies by going 3-for-3 in Game 1.
A&T steps outside of the conference on Tuesday to face crosstown rival UNC Greensboro at UNCG Baseball Stadium at 4 p.m.
