GREENSBORO – On Senior Day, North Carolina A&T softball's lone senior, Joey Barkhimer (L, 5-16), was the Aggies starting pitcher and sparkled as the Aggies key offensive player on Saturday at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex. Unfortunately, it did not power the Aggies to a win.
The College of Charleston Cougars beat A&T 11-6 in the Aggies' season finale. The win also completed a three-game Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) sweep for the Cougars, headed to the 2025 CAA Softball Championship Tournament after finishing their regular season 30-23 overall and 20-7 in league play. A&T's season comes to an end 12-38 overall and 4-23 in the CAA.
Barkhimer made her 96th appearance and 55th start in the circle after the softball program honored her before the game. She pitched five to go over 350 innings pitched for her career. At the plate, she went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and a run scored. Her three RBIs gave her 51 for her career. Barkhimer's double means she ends her career with 10.
The Cougars took a 4-0 lead against Barkhimer in her 55th career start and 162nd game as an Aggie. But with two out in the A&T third, sophomore Destiny Sims singled and had that followed by a Jamari Moss two-run homer to cut the Cougars lead to 4-2. Junior Camryn Caldwell singled to keep the inning going before a strikeout ended the A&T threat.
Charleston regained the lead by four on a two-run homer from Halle Cannon in the visitors' fourth. An error gave the Cougars another run in the fifth before the Aggies put together a massive rally in the home fifth. It started with a Sims single.
That was followed by a Moss single that moved Sims to third with no outs. A&T loaded the bases when Caldwell was hit by a Kendall Thackston (W, 5-3) pitch. However, bases loaded with no outs quickly turned into bases loaded with two outs after sophomore Trinity Glover fouled out and a strikeout by Avery Evans. The Aggies leaned on their senior to do the damage.
Barkhimer laced a double to clear the bases before scoring on the same play thanks to an error to bring the Aggies to within one, 7-6. A pop-out ended the frame, leading to the Charleston sixth, where they extended their lead on a passed ball and an RBI from Leela Langston. Another Cannon two-run homer pushed Charleston's lead to 11-6.
Glover singled for the Aggies in the seventh, but she advanced no farther than second base. Thackston pitched the first five innings for Charleston, posting eight strikeouts. Campbell Schaen (S,1) pitched the final two innings, giving up only the hit to Glover. Sophomore Aaliyah Williams pitched in all three games of the series. On Saturday, she recorded five strikeouts in two innings pitched.
Moss, scheduled to return for her junior season in 2026, went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, including her home run. Sims also went 2-for-4, scoring twice. Glover, another expected returner, had a 2-for-4 afternoon. Cannon led the Cougars with a 3-for-3 day, scoring four times and driving in four runs.
