TAMPA, Fla. – University of South Florida (USF) outfielder Jackson Mayo hit a two-run walk-off homer run in the ninth inning to lead the Bulls to an 8-7 win over the North Carolina A&T baseball team Friday night at USF Baseball Stadium. The Aggies, off to their best start in modern history, looked well on their way to their fifth straight win.
A&T entered the visitor's sixth with the game tied at 5-5. USF went with right-handed pitcher Logan Bevis on the mound. Junior shortstop Enrique Wood, who extended his hitting streak to seven on Friday, opened the frame with a single to center field. Wood moved into scoring position on a passed ball before Devon Rodriguez advanced him to second on a sacrifice bunt.
Junior outfielder Shemar Dalton, who has reached safely in nine straight games for the Aggies, brought Wood home on an RBI single to center to give the Aggies the lead. Senior Michael Logan gave the Aggies a 7-5 lead on an RBI double down the left field line. Bevis earned a strikeout against Tatsunori Negishi and got junior Canyon Brown to ground out to end the A&T's threat.
A&T starter, right-hander Coley Kilpatrick, pitched around a one-out walk to get out of the home sixth unscathed. RHP Jake Delisi replaced Kilpatrick in the seventh and struck out the side to keep the Aggies in the lead. USF broke through in the eighth with a leadoff homer off Delisi by Bobby Boser, cutting A&T's lead to one, 7-6.
Bulls LHP Joey Volini (W, 2-0) walked senior outfielder TJ Ash with two outs in the A&T ninth. Ash then moved into scoring position on a wild pitch before AJ Jones grounded out to end the inning, setting up Mayo's home run off Angel Ortiz (L, 1-1).
Dalton improved his batting average to .371 by going 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs. Wood also had a three-hit day, driving in two runs and scoring twice. Ash had a double and a single and scored a run. The Aggies dropped to 10-3.
After scoring a run in the first, the Aggies took a 4-0 lead in the second as Ash led off the frame with a double and moved to third on a wild pitch. After Jones walked, Wood hit an RBI single to left to score Ash. Rodriguez loaded the bases with a single before Dalton's infield single scored Jones, and a throwing error allowed Wood to score for the third run of the inning.
USF rallied with three runs in its second inning before an RBI single in the visitor's third gave the Aggies a 5-3 advantage. Boser tied the game at 5-5 by hitting the first of his two home runs on Friday before the Aggies recaptured the lead in the sixth. The two teams play Game 2 of the series on Saturday at 2 p.m.
