GREENSBORO – On Tuesday, Winthrop scored eight runs over its final two at-bats to secure a 10-3 non-conference, midweek baseball win over North Carolina A&T at War Memorial Stadium.
The Aggies dropped to 8-18 overall, losing to the Eagles twice in one week. Freshman JT Taylor led the Aggies with a 3-for-4 night, including an RBI and a run scored. The Eagles, A&T's former opponent in the Big South Conference, improved to 16-14 overall behind the offense of Gabe Natividad, who went 2-for-4 with four runs scored and four RBIs.
The Eagles went with the pitching duo of right-handed pitcher Mason Tompkins and LHP Nick Veselinovic (W, 1-0) to get the win. Tompkins got the start and went five innings, giving up three runs, four hits, two walks and striking out two. Veselinovic pitched four scoreless, giving up two hits and striking out four.
Meanwhile, the Aggies went with a staff day, starting with junior RHP Darius Robinson. Robinson gave up a first-inning run on an RBI sacrifice fly from Koby Kropf. But Taylor got that run back with a solo shot off Tompkins in A&T's half of the first to tie the game at 1-1.
Winthrop started a two-out rally against Robinson in the second with back-to-back singles. He pitched around it by getting Natividad to fly out to right to end the inning and his night as the Aggies turned to freshman RHP Taili Thompson in the third inning. A&T gave Thompson the lead in the home third by playing some small ball.
Junior Nick DiCarlo led off the frame with a single and stole second to move into scoring position. Junior Luis Gomez's sac bunt moved him to third before an error on Tompkins scored DiCarlo from third to give the Aggies a 2-1 advantage. Winthrop responded in the visitor's fourth, loading the bases against Thompson with one out.
Freshman RHP Braxton Davis entered the game for Thompson and got Natividad to ground out, but the groundball allowed a runner to score to even the game at 2-2. A Winthrop pop-fly got Davis and the Aggies out of the inning. Davis pitched 2 2/3 innings of scoreless and hitless baseball, giving up a walk and striking out one.
A&T took the lead with Davis as the pitcher of record. Senior Kristian Amaro opened the home fifth with a double to left field. He moved to third on a flyout before DiCarlo's RBI sac fly scored him to give the Aggies a 3-2 lead.
That lead held until the visitor's eighth inning when the Eagles opened the frame with back-to-back singles off Carter Daniels (L, 0-2). The second single scored Josh Skowronski thanks to an error in left field that helped the Eagles tie the game. After a single from pinch-hitter Cole Yearsley moved Ethan Wilson to third, Wilson scored on a wild pitch, giving Winthrop the lead.
A&T used three pitchers in the inning, but the Eagles scored four more times to take an 8-3 lead into the home eighth. Natividad added a two-run double in the Winthrop ninth and after a Taylor leadoff double in the A&T ninth, the Aggies went down in order to end the ballgame.
The Aggies return to Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play on Friday when they open a three-game series against the Stony Brook Seawolves. The first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. The series will also serve as Alumni Weekend for the baseball program, where the Aggies will celebrate the 2005 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship team.
