SPARTANBURG, SC – The North Carolina A&T softball team played two close games on Friday during the first day of the Sparkle City Invitational Tournament hosted by Wofford at Hope Field.
In the first loss, they were a victim of a come-from-behind win as Colgate rallied to defeat the Aggies 5-4 earlier in the day. During the evening session, the Aggies saw their rally fall short in a 6-4 loss to the Wofford Terriers.
The two losses dropped A&T to 2-5 on the season. Senior Joey Barkhimer and freshman Jaden James had two RBIs apiece, and freshman Roshell Williams produced two hits in the loss to the Raiders.
The Aggies got off to a great start against Raiders starter Alexa Acker. Acker walked leadoff batter Shandi Brown in the home half of the first inning. Freshman Aniya Merritt's bunt sacrifice moved Brown to second before junior Katriel Williams moved Brown to third with a single. Freshman Ayanna Myers loaded the bases when Acker hit her with a pitch.
That led to James' two-run RBI double, giving the Aggies a 2-0 lead by scoring Brown and Williams. Two more runs scored when Barkhimer reached on an error, scoring Mears and James to put the Aggies ahead 4-0.
Colgate slowly chipped away at the Aggies lead, posting a run apiece in each inning from the second to the sixth. The Raiders' go-ahead run came in the sixth as Jillian Herbst secured a one-out single off A&T starter Aaliyah Williams (L, 1-3). A walk to Analisa Raffaelli put Raiders on first and second before junior Megan Ellis replaced Williams in the circle.
Ellis got Quinn Livesay to fly out to left field, but an error on the play allowed Herbst to score to give the Raiders a 5-4 advantage. Lily Haluska lined out to end the frame.
James opened the sixth by reaching on an error before Colgate relief pitcher Maya Servedio (W, 1-0) retired the next three batters. Ellis retired Colgate in order in the visitor's seventh. The Aggies put the tying run on in their seventh as Roshell Williams earned a two-out infield single. But Katriel Williams struck out to end the game.
A&T's evening game against the Terriers saw the Aggies take a 2-1 lead in the visitor's third on an RBI sacrifice fly from sophomore Jamari Moss. Wofford responded with a four-run third against A&T starter Lauren Hardy (L, 1-2).
The inning was highlighted by a 3-run triple from Rivers Sampson, aiding the Terriers in taking a 6-2 lead. A&T started to cut into Wofford's lead in the fifth off starter Margaret Axelson (W, 5-0). It started with a two-out walk to Roshell Williams. Katriel Williams brought her home on an RBI triple. Moss followed with a single to right to score Katriel Williams to get the Aggies to within two, 6-4.
It led to Wofford replacing Axelson with Natalya Salo (S, 2) in the circle. Salo opened her outing by walking James to put runners on first and second before getting Destiny Sims to fly out to right to end the frame.
A&T put a runner in scoring position in the visitor's sixth, but two strikeouts and a fly out to right ended the threat. Solo retired the Aggies in order in the seventh to secure the save. The Aggies return to action in the Sparkle City Invitational on Saturday with an 11 a.m. game against Colgate and a 1:30 p.m. game against USC Upstate.
