CHARLESTON, SC – North Carolina A&T baseball got off to an early start on Saturday, but could not maintain it.

The College of Charleston Cougars rallied to beat the Aggies 6-4 Saturday at Patriots Point in Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) play. The Aggies are now 9-24 overall, 3-11 in conference, despite senior Nick DiCarlo's 3-for-5 night with an RBI and a run scored. The Cougars move to 15-19 overall and 7-7 in the league, led by Landon Penfield's 2-for-4 day.

DiCarlo opened the game with a double. Charleston right-handed starter Jace Stancil (W, 1-6) then walked JT Taylor and loaded the bases by walking sophomore Bruce Wyche. Senior Andrew Tinsley hit a two-run single for a 2-0 Aggies lead.

Senior Luis Gomez followed with another single to reload the bases. Freshman Adrian Gonzalez earned the RBI when Stancil hit him with a pitch, forcing in Wyche for a 3-0 A&T advantage. A strikeout and a flyout ended the frame for the Aggies. Charleston got a run back in the bottom of the first when Alex LaCoste secured an RBI single off A&T right-handed starter Jordan Bright.

Bright escaped trouble in the second, third, and fourth, leaving six Cougars stranded. However, the Aggies could not escape trouble in the fifth as RHP Aiden Hansen (L, 2-2) took over for Bright. With runners on the corners with one out, Penfield drove in a run with a single to left field.

Nick Diaz followed with another RBI single to tie the game 3-3. RHP Jason Johnson entered the game to try to slow Charleston's momentum, but walked Will Tippett to load the bases. Reece Holbrook gave the Cougars the lead with a two-run single before an RBI groundout from Jacob Amman gave Charleston a 6-3 advantage. Charleston tried to add to its lead in the sixth, but RHP Josh Hauser pitched his way out of a jam.

A&T capitalized on holding the Cougars without a run in the sixth. Freshman Luis Acevedo reached third base on an error to open the top of the seventh. DiCarlo brought him home on a groundout to cut Charleston's lead to 6-4. Taylor and sophomore Tyler Smith kept the rally going with back-to-back singles, putting the go-ahead run. But Wyche hit into a force out that allowed him to reach first base before he was caught stealing to end the threat.

The Aggies never mounted a serious threat against Charleston relief pitcher Alex Lyon (S, 2). They will try to salvage one game from the series when they face the Cougars again on Sunday at 1 p.m.