CHARLOTTE, NC – Sophomore
Boaz Harper hit a massive two-run RBI double in the visitors' eighth inning to lead the North Carolina A&T baseball team to a 6-3 win over Queens University Sunday afternoon at The Stick Williams Dream Fields. The win snaps a four-game losing streak for the Aggies. Harper went 3-for-5 with three RBIs to help the Aggies improve to 2-5.
A&T trailed 3-2 going into the top of the seventh. Right-handed pitcher and reliever Johnny Joseph opened the frame for the Royals on the mound and walked junior
Marcus Bradshaw on four straight pitches. Bradshaw eventually stole second before Harper lined out for the inning's first out. Sophomore
JT Taylor chased Joseph from the game with a single that allowed Bradshaw to reach third.
RHP Jake Young (L, 1-1) entered the game for Joseph to face A&T sophomore
Tyler Smith. Smith reached on an infield single, scoring Bradshaw to tie the game at 3. After junior RHP
Aiden Hansen (W, 1-0) set the Royals down in order in the home seventh, senior
Nick DiCarlo opened the Aggies eighth with a single.
DiCarlo stole second, and sophomore
Reginald Tuggle III walked to put runners on first and second. Freshman
Sam Schwamb advanced both runners into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt before Bradshaw walked to load the bases. All of that set up Harper's big-time at-bat, where he took Young's 2-2 pitch down the left field line to score DiCarlo and Tuggle to give the Aggies a 5-3 advantage.
Taylor helped the Aggies add another run with an RBI sacrifice fly to give the Aggies a three-run advantage. Haden put together another 1-2-3 inning for the Aggies in the eighth before junior RHP
Agyei Quinichett (S, 1) entered the game in the ninth for the Aggies. He walked Grayson Childers to open the frame before striking out Justin Hudson for the first out. However, a fielding error put runners on the corners for the Royals and brought the tying run to the plate in Dylan Schafer.
Quinichett answered the challenge by getting Schaffer to ground out and Kendall McDowell to fly out to center field to seal the win for A&T. Graduate RHP
Angel Ortiz got the start for the Aggies, striking out six in three innings pitched. He gave up an RBI single to Charlie Marcantel in the second inning as the Royals took a 1-0 lead. A&T answered in the fourth as sophomore
Savoi Edwards led off with a triple before DiCarlo brought him home on a groundout to tie the game at 1. Back-to-back walks put Tuggle at second and Schwamb at first.
Harper followed with a two-out RBI single to give the Aggies the lead by scoring Tuggle. Queens responded in the fifth by scoring two runs to regain the lead before the Aggies' late-inning heroics. DiCarlo also had a big day, along with Harper, by going 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. Seven different Royals had hits, but they dropped to 3-4.
A&T returns to action on Tuesday and will make what has become its annual trip to Boshamer Stadium to play the University of North Carolina at 4 p.m.
