EAST GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T relief pitching has been superb over the first two games of its three-game Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) baseball series against the Hofstra Pride. The Aggies two-out clutching hitting have not been bad either. That continued on Saturday at War Memorial Stadium.
A&T's bullpen pitched seven innings and gave up only one run, and the Aggies scored four runs with two outs to beat the Pride 10-4. With the win, the Aggies have clinched their second CAA series win as they go for the sweep Sunday at 1 p.m. from War Memorial Stadium. The Aggies are a game above .500 at 12-11, and they moved to 5-3 in conference play. Hofstra dropped to 7-15 overall and 2-6 in league play.
The A&T bullpen has pitched a combined 10 innings in the series, surrendering one run in that span. Seven of the 19 runs the Aggies have scored in the series have come with two outs. Left-handed pitcher Daniel Carter got the start for A&T and went two innings before RHP Luke Brown (W, 2-2) entered the game, pitched three innings, struck out two, and gave up four hits on one run. RHP pitcher Trent Simmons (S, 1) closed the game for A&T by pitching four consecutive scoreless innings.
"We got big relief appearances again today," said A&T head coach Ben Hall. "Luke Brown came in and settled the game down for us, pitched out of some jams, and gave us a chance to keep scoring. Trent Simmons stretched the game out for us, and I told the team sometimes offense is your best defense."
If that is the case, the Aggies played one heckuva defensive game on Saturday, specifically in the fourth and fifth innings. With Hofstra leading 4-3, the Aggies offense exploded, starting with a five-run fourth. Three consecutive singles from right fielder Shemar Dalton, third baseman Cort Maynard and designated hitter Camden Jackson resulted in Jackson scoring Dalton from second to tie the game at 4.
An RBI sacrifice fly from catcher Canyon Brown scored Maynard to give the Aggies a 5-4 lead. Then, after second baseman Tre Williams singled, left fielder Cameran Brantley put up three big two-out runs for A&T by hitting a monstrous home run over the right-field fence to give the Aggies an 8-4 lead going into the fifth.
Brown pitched his way out of a jam in the visitor's fifth with a double play before a two-run RBI double from Maynard in the Aggies fifth gave A&T a six-run advantage.
"The fourth and fifth innings flipped the game around for us," said Hall. "It allowed us to play a little more relaxed, not such a high-stressed game. "Two-out runs are huge in college baseball.
You have to hit with two outs. You can measure offensive success with how you hit with two outs. On the other side, it's deflating because you were one pitch away from getting out of the inning."
The big lead also seemed to help Simmons relax in pressure situations. He entered the game in the sixth and pitched his way out of a bases-loaded jam. The Pride singled in each of the next three innings against Simmons but did not do much else. Offensively, Maynard led A&T by going 3-for-5 with a run scored and three RBI. Maynard is 7-for-14 (.500) with seven RBI in his last three games. Dylan Palmer led the Pride with a 2-for-5, two-RBI, one-run afternoon.
