GREENSBORO – Senior Michael Logan took the first pitch he saw from George Mason right-hander Kyle Menaker (L, 1-1) and punched a three-run walk-off home run over the left-field wall to lead the North Carolina A&T baseball team to a 5-4 win over the Patriots at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday.
"Last night, I got a first-pitch fastball from the same guy, so I knew they were going to come right back after me," said Logan. I just put my foot down, and I was ready to go. I put my best swing on it."
The Aggies improved to 13-5 on the season and 8-0 at home in weekend series. They will go after their third straight home series sweep on Sunday at 1 p.m. against the Patriots after winning three straight over the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and Eastern Illinois at #TheWar.
Logan finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored. All three of his RBIs came on the game-winning homer. Logan's heroics were set into motion after one was already out in the inning. Senior infielder Devon Rodriguez singled through the left side, and senior outfielder Shemar Dalton had a 10-pitch at-bat that led to another single.
George Mason called upon Menaker, who pitched an inning in A&T's Friday win at War Memorial. He threw only one pitch on Saturday as Logan crushed his first home run and the third of his career.
"It was an emotional game," said A&T head coach Ben Hall. "To come back like that in the ninth is obviously exciting. We didn't play our baseball, for sure. We left a boatload of runs up there in the early part of the game. But credit their pitcher, he did a good job of getting out of some jams."
A&T did not wait around early and came out aggressive in the first inning. Logan logged his eighth hit-by-pitch of the season and stole second base. Seniors Tatsunori Negishi and Chet Sikes also reached by a walk to load the bases. George Mason starter, LHP Konner Eaton, struggled with command throughout his start but struck out junior AJ Jones to end A&T's first-inning threat.
Eaton also pitched out of a bases-loaded situation in the fourth before getting some offensive help from Reece Woody, who hit a solo home run in the fifth. Eaton's counterpart, junior RHP Diego Barrett, dealt all game long and gave the Aggies a phenomenal start. Barrett turned in six innings, allowing two hits while striking out two.
Barrett also received help in the fifth after the Patriots replaced Eaton with LHP Ty Uchman. Negishi continued his hot hitting, belting a two-run home run to give the Aggies a 2-1 lead. Senior RHP Jake Delisi (W, 2-1) battled with the George Mason offense over the last three innings. He came in with a runner on base during the seventh and limited the damage to one run as the Patriots tied the game at 2-2.
In the eighth inning, Connor Dykst hit a two-run double off Delisi to give the Patriots a 4-2 lead, leading to the Aggies' phenomenal ninth inning. Dalton had a hit on Saturday to increase his hitting streak to seven games and extend his reaching base safely streak to 14 games. Negishi reached base all four times he came to the plate, walking twice, hitting the home run, and singling.
