GREENSBORO – North Carolina A&T and Monmouth played a real wild one on Sunday afternoon at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex that ended when Monmouth center fielder Lexi Castaneda threw out A&T freshman Ayanna Mears at home plate in the bottom of the seventh inning to preserve an 11-10 win for the Hawks in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) softball action.
The game included seven extra-base hits from A&T, including two home runs from sophomore Trinity Glover. Senior pitcher Joey Barkhimer (L, 3-6) had a double and a home run and drove in four. Despite an offensive outburst that saw the Aggies record 12 hits, they dropped to 5-16 overall and 0-3 in CAA play.
Meanwhile, the Hawks completed the sweep by winning Sunday's thriller, improving to 7-14 overall and 3-0 in league play.
A&T led 7-5 going into the visitor's sixth inning. But the Hawks rallied for a six-run sixth to take an 11-7 advantage going into the Aggies' sixth inning. The Hawks almost took that lead into their seventh inning, but an error allowed sophomore Jamari Moss to reach base.
Barkhimer made the Hawks pay for the mistake. She blasted a home run to bring the Aggies to within two at 11-9. It marked Barkhimer's eighth career home run and her second one this week after she homered at Queens University of Charlotte on Wednesday. The Aggies escaped the visitor's seventh without any damage occurring to set up the game's terrific ending.
Glover walked to open the inning, placing the tying run at the plate in Mears. Mears singled up the middle to put Aggies at first and second with no outs. Freshman Tyra Robinson moved both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. The sac bunt put the winning run at the plate as sophomore Shandi Brown prepared to face Olivia Lewis.
Brown brought home Glover on a sac fly to bring the Aggies to within one. With two outs, sophomore Destiny Sims stepped to the plate and hit a bloop single to center, bouncing in front of Castaneda.
Castaneda came up firing as Mears rounded third base. Castaneda's throw was on time as Mears was called out at the plate to end the game.
Jayla Cadena (W, 4-4) pitched 4.2 innings for the Hawks. Gabby Gesualdo led the Hawks by going 2-for-3 with three RBIs and two runs scored.
Monmouth produced a five-run first before the Aggies answered with a two-run double from Barkhimer in the Aggies half of the first. Moss' RBI double in the third brought the Aggies to within two, 5-3 before the first of Glover's two home runs cut A&T's deficit to one in the fourth. A&T scored three more runs in the frame to take a 6-5 lead.
Glover added to that lead in the fifth with her second home run of the game and her third of the season, setting up Monmouth's big sixth inning.
Glover scored three times and drove in two runs. The Aggies return to action on Wednesday for a midweek game at North Carolina Central University (NCCU), starting at 1 p.m. The Aggies beat the Eagles earlier this season, 14-6 in six innings at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex.
A&T will begin a three-game weekend CAA series against Campbell, starting Friday at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex at 2 p.m. The Aggies will also celebrate Softball Alumni Reunion weekend during the weekend series.
