SPARTANBURG, SC – The North Carolina A&T Aggies continued their play at Wofford College's Sparke City Classic on Saturday at Hope Field but did not have the success they wanted.
Earlier in the day, the Colgate Raiders defeated A&T 8-4 before the Aggies lost to the USC Upstate Spartans 15-5 in five innings. Junior catcher Camryn Caldwell had a two-run home run against the Raiders, and sophomores Shandi Brown and Jamari Moss had two hits apiece.
The Raiders took a 4-0 lead into the home half of the fifth, mainly behind a three-run RBI double from Amanda DeSantis in the visitor's fifth. A&T got a run back in its fifth inning after Brown scored pinch runner Aaliyah Lassiter on an RBI single up the middle.
Colgate responded by adding three more runs in the top of the 6th to give the Raiders a 7-1 advantage. A&T would not relent, however. Sophomore Trinity Glover opened the home sixth with a walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Those actions set up Moss's RBI single to right. A&T replaced Moss on the base paths with pinch runner Avery Evans, but she was forced out on a fielder's choice, leaving freshman Jaden James at first base.
Caldwell brought James home with a towering homer to left field. It marked Caldwell's second career home run. The home run led to the Raiders replacing starter Maya Servedio (W, 2-3) in the circle with reliever Mikala Ham (S, 1). Ham retired the next two Aggies on a pop out and a strikeout to end the frame.
In the seventh, Colgate took an 8-4 lead on a bases-loaded walk, allowing Jillian Herbst to score. In the A&T seventh, Ham retired the Aggies in order to secure Colgate's second win over A&T during the weekend classic.
Senior Joey Barkhimer (L, 1-1) got the start for A&T and went five innings, striking out three before being replaced by sophomore Lauren Hardy.
Junior Megan Ellis (L, 0-2) got the start against Upstate as she went three innings before sophomore Aaliyah Williams took over for her in the circle. The Spartans had some explosive innings, including a six-run second. Despite the six-run second, the Aggies staged an impressive rally over the visitor's third and fourth innings.
With Upstate leading 7-0 after two, Glover blasted a two-run homer to left-center field to put the Aggies on the scoreboard. It was Glover's second career home run. Later in the frame, junior Katriel Williams hit a one-out double to left center before James produced a two-out RBI single to score Williams, cutting the Spartans lead to 7-3.
A walk to Caldwell and a single from sophomore Destiny Sims led off the A&T fourth before Lassiter replaced Caldwell as a pinch runner and the Spartans replaced starter Maddie Drerup (W, 6-0) in the circle with Sierra Maness.
After a strikeout, Maness loaded the bases by walking Glover. A two-base error allowed Lassiter and Glover to score to get the Aggies within two, 7-5. After Glover was forced out at third, Maness struck out Roshell Williams to end the threat.
The Spartans put the game away in their half of the fourth with eight runs. The two teams meet again on Sunday at 11 a.m. from Hope Field.
