ELON, NC – North Carolina A&T stretched and contorted, but they never broke or collapsed as they held off an Elon Phoenix rally to win 11-9 in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) baseball action Saturday evening at Latham Park.
The Aggies have won two out of their last three CAA games to improve to 19-27 overall and 11-16 in league play. The Aggies enter tomorrow's season finale having already won five more games than last season, and they improved upon their three-win season in the Big South Conference a year ago.
Meanwhile, Elon has lost three of its last four, dropping its record to 29-20 overall and 16-9 in the CAA. A&T's win at Latham Park was its first since beating the Phoenix 3-2 on April 24, 2019.
A&T's last road win this season came on April 1 at UNC Wilmington. Therefore, the Aggies looked hungry for a road win early after dropping their last nine road games and 10 in a row away from War Memorial Stadium. They took a 9-0 lead over the 6 ½ innings played, including a three-run second.
While A&T built its enormous lead, A&T starter and RHP Xavier Meachem (W, 2-1) kept the Phoenix scoreless over the game's first six innings. He powered his way to six strikeouts over those first six innings, giving up one walk and six hits in the process.
But Meachem opened the home seventh by hitting Connor Offshack with a 2-2 pitch. He then walked Connor Coolahan, leading to the Aggies replacing Meachem with RHP Trent Simmons. Simmons walked James Broderick to load the bases, followed by Simmons hitting Charlie Granatell with the first pitch he threw to him to force in Elon's first run.
Simmons did get Ryan Sprock to pop out, but Cole Reynolds singled to score Coolahan to cut A&T's lead to 9-2. Both runs were charged to Meachem, but Elon kept going as catcher Parker Haskin hit a two-run single through the left side to cut the Aggies lead to five runs. Reynolds was picked off second for the inning's second out before center fielder Justin Cassella doubled down the right field line to score Haskin, cutting A&T's lead to 9-5 before Simmons got Tanner Holliman to strike out to end the frame.
Despite having their lead cut in half, the Aggies recovered in the eighth to manufacture a run. Elon right-handed reliever Sam DeLiella walked designated hitter Camden Jackson to open the visitor's eighth. Jackson stole second before A&T second baseman Tre Williams struck out, and catcher Canyon Brown grounded out to move Jackson to third. Left fielder Michael Logan responded by hitting an RBI single to left to give the Aggies a 10-5 lead.
But the Phoenix got a two-run RBI double from Sprock and an RBI single from Reynolds in the home eighth to cut A&T's lead to 10-8. However, the Aggies were stubborn on Saturday. They pushed another run across in the ninth with an RBI single from Cort Maynard to push the lead to three. A&T entered the ninth with RHP Jake Delisi (S, 2) on the mound after he entered the game in the eighth.
Delisi gave up a home run to Cassella, and Holliman put the tying run at the plate when he singled up the middle. Then, Offshack placed the winning run at the plate when he singled to left. But the Aggies stayed with Delisi, and it paid off. He got Coolahan to hit into a force play that eliminated the lead runner, Holliman, from the base paths. Broderick then hit into a double play to end the game.
It was a game that started impressively for A&T. The first inning included an RBI double from Maynard to score Shemar Dalton, who opened the game with a leadoff single. It would be the first of three runs Dalton scored on Saturday as he put together a career day by going 4-for-5 with three RBI. He played an even more significant role in the second inning when he blasted a three-run home run to right field to give the Aggies a 4-0 lead. It marked Dalton's second homer of the season.
That lead increased in the third as Jackson opened the frame with a double to right, followed by a Williams single to center that moved Jackson to third. Williams' single chased Elon right-handed starter Justin Mitrovich (L, 5-4) from the game as RHP Sam Nomura entered the contest.
Nomura allowed one of his inherited runners to score as Brown hit an RBI sacrifice fly to center field to score Jackson for a 5-0 Aggies lead. The Aggies returned in the sixth and received a leadoff homer from TJ Ash to score their sixth unanswered run as Ash smashed his third homer of the season.
A&T made it nine unanswered in the seventh as Williams led off with a double, Brown walked and first baseman Anthony Hennings was hit by a pitch with one out to load the bases. Williams scored on a wild pitch from Phoenix RHP Spencer Bauer, and Ash scored Brown on an RBI sac fly. RHP Ben Sieracki replaced Bauer but gave up an RBI single up the middle to Aggies shortstop Sabin Roane to score Hennings to make it a 9-0 A&T lead.
Cassella led the Phoenix by going 3-for-5 with two RBI as he was one of four Phoenix with multiple-RBI games. Maynard went 3-for-6 with two RBI for A&T, and Ash had a 2-for-4 day with two RBI and two runs scored. The rubber game of the series is 1 p.m., Sunday, at Latham Park.
