EAST GREENSBORO – Freshman Megan Ellis continues to thrive in the circle for the North Carolina A&T softball team. Nine days after pitching a complete-game three-hitter to beat UNC Wilmington, Ellis returned to the circle to pitch six strong innings in a 6-2 Aggies win over Quinnipiac in the first game of a very windy doubleheader at Lady Aggies Softball Complex on Tuesday.
A&T lost the second game, 9-4. The split moves A&T to 5-16 on the season as the Aggies prepare to play their first-ever Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) conference game this weekend with a noon doubleheader against Drexel at The Complex. Quinnipiac ended the day at 8-6.
Tuesday's first game saw Ellis give up seven hits, only one earned run, strikeout two and walk four. She went to the circle in the seventh inning in an attempt to pitch her second straight complete game, but with the Aggies leading 6-1, Ellis surrendered three consecutive singles.
A&T center fielder Jai Deese bobbled the third single hit by Mary Fogg, allowing Gianna Palmisano to score to cut A&T's lead to 6-2. Jai Deese allowed Gianna Palmisano to score to cut A&T's lead to 6-2. With runners at second and third, interim head coach Diego Ibarra replaced Ellis with senior Kayla Douglas.
Douglas surrendered a single up the middle to Brooke Hillard, which led to Deese's redemption. She fired a laser on a rope to home plate that beat the base runner, Sofia Vega, by at least three steps as freshman catcher Sierra Baldwin turned and put the tag on Vega's right leg for the inning's first out. Douglas retired the next two Bobcats to seal the win for the Aggies.
Junior Alyxx Estrada went 2-for-3 with a run scored, and Deese had a 2-for-4 Game 1 with a run scored and an RBI.
The Aggies got on the board in the first with a Baldwin RBI single down the right field line as Estrada, who opened the game with a double, scored from second. The Bobcats tied the game at 1 in the third on an RBI single by Natalie Apatiga before the Aggies reclaimed the lead in their third when Bobcat pitcher Jaclyn Gonzalez hit graduate Jocelyn Bennett with a pitch on the arm with the bases loaded, bringing home Dezianna Patmon.
A&T broke open the game in the fourth with some clutch two-out hitting and few missteps by the Bobcats. Baldwin earned a two-out walk from Gonzalez before Patmon's single to right moved Baldwin to third to put runners on the corners. Deese then ripped a single through the left side to score Baldwin, giving the Aggies a 3-1 lead.
Ellis then stepped to the plate and hit a ground ball to Vega. Vega's throw to first went wide left, allowing Patmon to score. Hillard, the Bobcats first baseman, then tried to throw out Deese, who rumbled toward home. However, Hilliard's throw went wide, allowing Deese to score for a 5-1 A&T advantage. Langley followed with an RBI single to right, helping Ellis help herself by scoring to give the Aggies a five-run lead going into the late innings.
Gonzalez (L,3-3) went four innings, giving up only two earned runs in a losing effort. Fogg and Vega had 2-for-3 performances in Game 1.
The second game saw sophomore Joey Barkhimer go 3-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. She also had a gutsy performance in the circle. She entered the game with the Aggies trailing 5-1 in the fourth and tried to keep the Aggies close, going 3.2 innings, striking out five and walking five.
Sophomore Amaya Kearse (L,1-2) took the loss, and Sydney Horan (W,4-2) had a complete-game, six-strikeout performance to lead the Bobcats. A&T's Kayla Taylor had pinch-hit a two-run homer run in Game 2. Patmon was a combined 4-for-6 on the day with three runs scored.
