MEMPHIS, Tenn.– North Carolina A&T made a pretty impressive statement throughout the weekend at the highly competitive Blues Invitational hosted by the University of Memphis's softball team.
A&T's closing statement resulted in a wild 11-10 win over the Morehead State Eagles at the Tigers Softball Complex on Sunday, thanks to a game-winning home run from sophomore
Tyra Robinson in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Aggies completed the Blues Invitational with a 3-2 record, which included a win over the host Memphis Tigers on Saturday. The Aggies are 7-9 overall after their final non-conference tournament of the season.
On Sunday, the Aggies put together a season-high 13 hits to go alongside a season-high 11 runs. In addition, the Aggies had five players finish with multiple hits, led by Robinson, who homered, singled and scored three times. Junior
Jamari Moss doubled, drove in two runs, and homered for the fifth time this season, which leads the Coastal Athletic Association (CAA).
The Aggies opened Sunday's play with a four-run first inning after A&T sophomore starting pitcher
Lauren Hardy left the Eagles scoreless in the visitors' first. With sophomore
Aniya Merritt standing on first after a single, junior
Bria Finley hit an RBI triple to get the Aggies on the board first. Ainsley Stubbs replaced Eagles starter Allicen Harris in the circle after Finley's triple.
Moss welcomed her with a two-run blast to give the Aggies a 3-0 lead. It marked Moss's eighth extra base hit of the season, and she has a .667 slugging percentage this season. A&T's first-inning rally kept going when Harris walked Robinson, leading sophomore
Ayanna Mears RBI double to complete the four-run frame.
Morehead State responded with a four-run visitors' second inning that ended Hardy's afternoon as junior Devion Long replaced her in the circle. Sage VanDemark's two-run single helped the Eagles tie the game at 4. Long helped the Aggies put together a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the third before the Aggies exploded for six runs in the bottom half.
A double from Moss and a single from Robinson led to Moss scoring on a wild pitch to give the Aggies a 5-4 lead. Mears's infield single put Robinson on third base for sophomore
Jaden James, who blasted a single through the right side to score Robinson. Mears went to third on the play, and James advanced to second on the throw home. Riley Burney (L, 0-3) replaced Stubbs in the circle, but it didn't matter.
Junior
Trinity Glover singled down the right field line to score Mears and James to give A&T an 8-4 advantage. Glover got caught in a rundown on the play for the first out of the inning. Glover's putout did not kill A&T's momentum, however. Freshman
Hailey Darkwa reached first base after swinging and missing on a third strike that resulted in a wild pitch.
Junior
Shandi Brown then reached on an error before Merritt hit into a fielder's choice that eliminated Darkwa from the base paths. But Finley walked to load the bases with two outs for Moss. An error allowed her to reach base. It also allowed Brown and Merritt to score, putting the Aggies ahead 10-4.
Morehead State rallied, scoring three runs apiece in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the game at 10-10 before Robinson's game-winning homer. It was Robinson's fourth home run this season. Junior
Aaliyah Williams (W, 4-2), who entered the game in the fifth, gave up a leadoff walk in the seventh. She recovered by getting Victoria Spencer to foul out and striking out Sela Pickford. After Sydney Farmer reached on a fielder's choice, Taikibrea Campbell ended the game by grounding out.
Glover contributed to the win by going 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Merritt went 2-for-4 and scored twice, and Mears was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. The Aggies return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Clinton, SC, to face the Presbyterian College Blue Hose in a doubleheader that starts at 2 p.m. from the PC Softball Complex.