ROCK HILL, SC – North Carolina A&T baseball got off to a great start before the Winthrop Eagles matched it with a six-run second inning to defeat the Aggies 10-5 Tuesday night at Winthrop's Founders Field in non-conference play.
Senior AJ Jones went 2-for-3 with three RBI, and reigning Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) Tyler Smith went 1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
Smith started the game with an RBI double down the right field line, scoring freshman leadoff batter Bruce Wyche, who was hit by a 1-1 pitch off Winthrop right-handed starter Connor Harris. Freshman JT Taylor hit a sharp line drive to third, but Winthrop third baseman Colin Crowley snagged it.
But on the throw to double up Smith off base, the throw went wide, allowing Smith to reach third. Jones brought him home with a single to right for a 2-0 A&T lead. The inning ended with a Jason Campo strikeout. A&T added another run in the second with freshman Savoi Edwards kick-starting the inning with a double to right center. An Enrique Wood infield single moved Edwards to third before an RBI sacrifice bunt scored Edwards to give A&T a three-run lead.
The Eagles had a massive response in their half of the second, including compiling four straight doubles off A&T RHP freshman reliever Mekai Griffin (L, 0-1), starting with Dusty Vela's two-run double to left center followed by an RBI double from Gabe Natividad to tie the game.
Alan Bernhardt blasted an RBI double to give Winthrop a 4-3 lead before Jaylen Hernandez completed the doubles onslaught with one to left center to give the Eagles a two-run lead. Winthrop's final run of the inning came on a wild pitch that allowed Hernandez to score.
In the third, a two-run RBI triple by Natividad led to two more Winthrop runs and an RBI single by Bernhardt completed a three-run inning for the Eagles, putting them on top 9-3.
The Aggies got two runs back in the visitor's fifth as junior Luis Gomez and Wyche walked to open the frame against LHP Nick Veselinovic. Veselinovic earned strikeouts against the next two batters he faced, but Jones delivered with a two-run double to cut Winthrop's lead to 9-5. The Eagles turned to RHP Mason Tompkins (W, 3-1), who got the Eagles out of the inning by getting Campo to ground out.
A&T went the next three innings without a hit, while the Eagles added a run in the home eighth. A&T got a two-out hit in the ninth, but a strikeout followed, ending the game.
The Aggies open a three-game Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) series in Wilmington, NC this weekend, starting Friday with a 6 p.m. contest against UNC Wilmington at Brooks Field.
