EAST GREENSBORO – Right-hander Coley Kilpatrick (W, 3-4) gave the North Carolina A&T baseball program one of the best pitching performances of his life, and it was most certainly needed.
Kilpatrick pitched a gutsy complete-game, three-hitter, surrendering one run, five walks and striking out 10 to lead the Aggies to a 2-1 win over the William & Mary Tribe Friday night at War Memorial Stadium in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) play.
In pitching the Aggies first complete game since, Tim Luth pitched a complete game against Bethune-Cookman on March 22, 2019; Kilpatrick threw 132 pitches while keeping the Aggies bullpen rested for the remaining two games of the series.
A&T ended a four-game slide to improve to 15-19. More importantly, the Aggies stopped a five-game conference losing streak to improve to 7-10 in the conference. Only six teams qualify for the CAA Baseball Championship Tournament scheduled for May 24-27 in Mt. Pleasant, S.C.
After the win, the Aggies find themselves in eighth place, 2 ½ games out of the sixth tournament spot. They still have two potential makeup games with Monmouth remaining. The Aggies are chasing The Tribe, who dropped to 24-15 overall and 9-7 in league play.
W&M had a pitcher-by-committee approach on Friday. RHP Nate Knowles (L, 3-3) got the start and went four innings, surrendering one run on three hits with five strikeouts. Zach Tsakounis pitched the next two innings, giving up three hits and a run. Carter Lovasz finished the game for the Tribe, pitching two scoreless innings.
The Aggies got a big two-out hit in the second inning to take the lead for good in the game. First baseman Anthony Hennings singled to center field before center fielder TJ Ash hit a triple to center field to score Hennings for a 1-0 lead. Second baseman Tre Williams took over the team's home run lead with his fourth of the season as he hit a solo blast in the sixth inning for a 2-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Kilpatrick retired seven straight Tribe batters from the fifth and seventh innings before second baseman Corey Adams singled to center field in the seventh. After Adams' single, Kilpatrick retired six in a row before designated hitter Jerry Barnes III hit a ninth-inning solo home run to cut the Aggies lead to 2-1.
But A&T stayed with Kilpatrick by striking out the final two batters he faced to get the Aggies the critical win. Ash led the Aggies by going 2-for-3 with an RBI. The two teams are scheduled to play Game 2 at War Memorial Stadium at 6 p.m. Saturday.
