GREENSBORO – The North Carolina A&T baseball team rallied from another deficit and won on another walk-off at-bat. Over the weekend, the George Mason Patriots fell prey to the cardiac Aggies.
On Tuesday, the Aggies did the come-from-behind thing to crosstown rival UNC Greensboro, defeating the Spartans 3-2 in 11 innings at War Memorial Stadium on a walk-off single from senior infielder Devon Rodriguez as senior TJ Ash plated the winning run.
The Aggies have shown extraordinary poise lately, fighting and winning challenging games. They trailed 4-2 in the home ninth on Saturday against George Mason before a 10-pitch at-bat from junior Shemar Dalton led to a three-run walk-off blast from reigning Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) co-player of the week Michael Logan. The following day, the Aggies rallied from a 7-1 deficit to defeat the Patriots 10-9.
On Tuesday, the Aggies trailed 2-0 after 7 ½ innings played, and they were no-hit until a fifth-inning single from Rodriguez. Senior right-hand pitcher Avery Cain started the game for the Aggies and worked into the fourth inning, striking out four.
Cain surrendered two runs to the Spartans in the fourth inning. UNCG scored its only runs of the game in the fourth inning via Caleb Cozart's 10th home run of the season, a solo shot to right field, and an RBI single from Mitchell Smith. Sophomore RHP Carter Daniels and RHP Brock Duff followed Cain on the mound.
Both came in dealing by racking up four strikeouts over two innings apiece, allowing one hit each. Despite A&T's best efforts on the mound, the Aggies still needed some offense. They found some with only six outs remaining in the game.
Senior outfielder Shemar Dalton belted a one-out home run down the right field line to put the Aggies on the board. It marked his 15th straight game reaching base, extending his hitting streak to eight consecutive games. Speaking of hitting streaks, Logan extended his hitting streak to eight straight games by quickly following Dalton's blast with a double down the third base line.
Graduate first baseman Tatsunori Negishi singled and scored Logan to even the score at 2-2. A&T stranded runners at first and third to end the inning. Going into the ninth, the Aggies called on senior RHP Justin Poris. He struck out two hitters in the inning to send the game into the bottom half of the inning.
Rodriguez singled, but no other A&T hitters reached, which extended the game into extra innings. Poris returned to the mound and pitched a scoreless 10th inning despite allowing two base runners. The Aggies called upon senior RHP Jake Delisi (W, 3-1) after Poris walked the leadoff batter in the 11th. Delisi stranded a runner at third base after he advanced there with just one out.
Then came more A&T late-inning magic. Ash started the frame with a walk and advanced to second base on a sacrifice bunt from junior Chet Sikes. Ash advanced to third on an AJ Jones groundout to the right side of the infield, putting the winning 90 feet away. Graduate outfielder Grayson Preslar battled UNCG RHP Danny Thompson Jr. (L, 3-2) for a walk, bringing Rodriguez to the plate.
Rodriguez singled up the middle on a 1-0 breaking ball to bring Ash home. It was Rodriguez's second career walk-off hit and his third hit of the game. The A&T pitching staff did an amazing job keeping UNCG hitters off balance all game, combining for 16 strikeouts.
A&T begins CAA play this weekend when they travel to Charleston, S.C., to take on the College of Charleston. The first pitch on Friday is at 6 p.m.
