BUIES CREEK, NC – The North Carolina A&T baseball team broke two streaks on Friday with its come-from-behind 13-6 win over the Campbell Fighting Camels at Jim Perry Stadium.
The Aggies snapped a five-game losing streak to improve to 18-11 overall and 3-4 in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play. They also ended a 17-game losing streak to the Camels. A&T's big-time win dropped Campbell to 20-9 overall and 3-4 in CAA action.
Campbell's offense got off to a lightning-quick start, with its first two batters reaching base to begin the game. The Camels did not score any runs, thanks to a slick double play by the infield, but they did score in the second.
After a run was walked in with the bases loaded, Chandler Riley battled at the plate before launching a two-out grand slam to give Campbell an early 5-0 lead. Aggies senior starter and RHP Coley Kilpatrick (W, 4-1) walked two batters in the inning to give the Camels offensive momentum.
A&T came roaring back to aid Kilpatrick. Senior outfielder Shemar Dalton led off the third with a solo home run, increasing his streak of reaching base safely to 25 games. Graduate first baseman Tatsunori Negishi has reached safely in 16 straight games as he doubled with one out in the third.
Senior Chet Sikes then reached on an error that scored Negishi to cut Campbell's lead to 5-2. A&T kept rallying with a run in the fourth as Dalton hit into a fielder's choice, scoring senior Devon Rodriguez, who reached on a walk, advanced on a wild pitch, and moved to third on a ground out.
Kilpatrick battled on the mound and held the potent Campbell offense off the board for the next three innings. A&T took the lead during the fifth inning, collecting five hits, starting with Negishi singling and advancing on a passed ball. Sikes slashed a ground-rule double to right field that scored Negishi. Sikes' double chased Campbell starter and RHP Zach Sabers from the game for RHP Jackson Roberts (L, 4-2).
Senior TJ Ash and Rodriguez each cashed in with RBI singles to give A&T a 6-5 advantage. A&T did not stop there. Junior catcher Canyon Brown blistered a baseball off the wall in the left-center after Negishi reached on another hit in the sixth inning. Negishi scored on a passed ball, and Brown advanced to third. Sikes blasted his first home run of the season deep into the night in left field to score two more and give A&T a 9-5 lead.
During the top of the seventh inning, juniors Enrique Wood and Isaiah Monge reached on walks to start the inning. Dalton sacrificed them into scoring position, and Brown delivered with a huge two-out, two-run single. Sikes remained steaming at the plate as he singled home another run following Brown's at-bat to put A&T ahead 12-5. Sikes had a career game, going 3-for-6 with a double, a home run, two runs scored, and five RBIs.
Campbell added a run in the home seventh, and A&T added one in the visitor's eighth to close the scoring. The Aggie bullpen did a phenomenal job of holding the Camels. Senior Connor Blantz, junior Angel Ortiz and senior Jake Delisi combined to allow only two hits and one run while striking out four over the remaining four innings after Kilpatrick left the game.
Negishi went 3-for-5 with three runs scored. Brown had two hits, including a double, and posted two RBIs. Rodriguez added two hits and an RBI. The teams square off again Saturday at 3 p.m. at Perry Stadium.
