ELON, NC – The North Carolina A&T baseball team had the worst luck over the weekend against local rival Elon during a vital three-game Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) series at Latham Park.
On Friday, an eight-run eighth inning by the Phoenix broke open a tie game, leading to an Elon win. The Aggies lost a pitchers' duel on Saturday, and Sunday was no better. Elon won 8-7 on a walk-off RBI sacrifice fly from Will Vergantino to complete the sweep of the Aggies. The loss placed the Aggies outside the top six in the CAA standings for the first time this season at 14-28 overall and 8-10 in league play. Elon's weekend moves it into a tie for fifth place at 19-24 overall and 9-9 in the CAA.
A&T put the pieces in place to salvage a win from the three-game series late in the game. Sophomore Jason Campo led off the visitor's eighth with a double to right field, leading to the departure of Elon right-handed reliever Hank Krift for RHP Hudson Narke (W, 1-3). Campo went to third on a flyball out by freshman Bruce Wyche before freshman Tyler Smith brought Campo home by grounding out to second.
A&T RHP Jacob Halford (L, 1-4) had a relatively smooth eighth inning, leading to the ninth, where A&T freshman Savoi Edwards walked on four pitches with one out.
Junior Nick DiCarlo followed with an RBI triple to center field to give the Aggies a 7-5 lead. Narke recorded the second out of the inning by striking out senior Kristian Amaro before walking senior Enrique Wood. However, Narke ended the inning with another strikeout, leading to the game-deciding home ninth.
Elon immediately put two runners on with back-to-back singles from Jackson Alford and Tank Yaghoubi before loading the bases thanks to a walk surrendered to Ryan Sprock. Alex Duffey tied the game 7-7 with a two-run single up the middle. Lawson Wheeler reloaded the bases with a bunt single, leading to Vergantino's game-winning sac fly.
Despite the loss, A&T is still in the mix for one of the six conference tournament berths in the CAA. With Northeastern (16-2) and William & Mary (12-6) leading the way, there are six teams at least three games within striking distance of third-place UNC Wilmington (11-7) with nine CAA games remaining.
Edwards led the Aggies by going 2-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI. DiCarlo had a triple and a single. Edwards got the Aggies on the board first with an RBI single in the visitor's first inning before the Phoenix answered with a three-run home run from Alex Duffey in the home first.
Wyche helped the Aggies tie the game 3-3 in the A&T fourth with a two-run RBI double. After Wyche advanced to third on a wild pitch, an error allowed him to score, giving the Aggies a 4-3 advantage. An RBI sac fly in the fifth by Sprock helped the Phoenix tie the game again before an RBI sac fly from Vince Fattore gave Elon the lead in the home sixth, 5-4. The two teams went into the eighth inning tied 5-5 thanks to an RBI sac bunt from Amaro. Duffey and Yaghoubi had three hits apiece for Elon, with Duffey adding five RBIs.
A&T has a midweek game at Davidson on Tuesday, April 29 at 5:30 p.m., before starting a three-game CAA series against the Campbell Fighting Camels at War Memorial Stadium on Friday, May 2 at 6 p.m.
