GREENSBORO – Junior right-handed pitcher Jacob Fields, sophomore RHP Braxton Davis (W, 3-1), graduate RHP Diego Barrett, and freshman RHP Josh Hauser (S, 1) combined to pitch magnificently on Tuesday night. They led North Carolina A&T to a 4-1 non-conference baseball win over the UNC Asheville Bulldogs at War Memorial Stadium.

The foursome teamed to pitch a three-hitter, walking four and striking out five. Their efforts helped A&T improve to 11-28 overall, as the Aggies have now won four of their last five midweek games. Meanwhile, UNCA benefited from a solid relief pitching performance by RHP Branden Barna, but still fell to 16-25 overall. Over the weekend, A&T gave up 42 runs in a three-game Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) series against Northeastern.

But on Tuesday, the Aggies did not surrender a run until the visitors' seventh inning.

However, A&T faced its most serious threat in the top of the ninth with Hauser on the mound. Holding a three-run advantage, Hauser caught Erick Krumpe looking on a strikeout for the first out, but walked Jake Minarik. Next, Tyler Parks hit a ground ball to Reginald Tuggle III at third base. Although Tuggle bobbled the groundball, he gathered himself and threw the ball to second to force out Minarik.

Freshman Luis Acevedo could not handle the throw, allowing Minarik to reach second and Parks to reach first. That put the tying run at the plate in Patrick Gillen. Gillen lined out for out No. 2 before Ben Hemphill hit a groundball at sophomore shortstop JT Taylor, who stepped on the bag for the force out and the win.

"We wanted to get Jacob out there, and he threw well. All the guys threw well," said A&T head coach Ben Hall. "Diego was sharp. Braxton was, too. And then, obviously, Josh just keeps getting better every week. In the middle of the week, you're going to do some things with some guys to give them opportunities they may not get on the weekend, so for them to go out and throw well, it sets a good tone for the day."

Senior Andrew Tinsley set the tone offensively. Known for his slugging ability, Tinsley smartly laid down a bunt for a base hit to open the home second. It was complemented by a single to right field from junior Marcus Bradshaw. Unfortunately, senior Luis Gomez hit into a double play. The play still allowed Tinsley to reach third with two outs. That's when freshman Adrian Gonzaelz came up clutch, roping RHP Ben Green's (L, 0-3) 2-2 pitch down the left field line to score Tinsley.

Another clutch hit to left field by Tuggle brought home Gonzalez for a 2-0 A&T lead. UNCA tried to answer in the third by putting runners on first and second with one out. But Fields pitched his way around it with a strikeout and a groundout. UNCA put a runner on second with one out in the fourth, but Minarik hit a sharp line drive to Taylor at short, who snagged the ball out of the air and doubled up Eric Kumpe at second base to end the threat.

Davis took over for Fields in the fifth inning. Davis pitched three innings. He got some help in the home fifth thanks to a two-out walk to Taylor. A&T took advantage as sophomore Bruce Wyche followed with a single, advancing Taylor to third. Then, on an obvious mix-up, Barna made a pickoff move to third. But no one was standing on the base, sending the throw into the left-field foul territory area. The mistake allowed Taylor to score for a 3-0 A&T lead.

Davis pitched a perfect sixth but did run into trouble in the visitors' seventh. A leadoff walk to Kumpe led to a Tyler Parks RBI double to cut A&T's lead to 3-1. Parks advanced to third base on a groundout before the inning ended when Tuggle made a nifty play at third on a groundball, throwing out Zeb Swangim at first to help the Aggies get out of the inning.

After making the sound play at third to end the seventh, Tuggle opened the home seventh with a line drive blast over the left-field wall to give the Aggies a 4-1 advantage. The Aggies then turned to Barrett and Hauser to clinch the win. A fielding error with two outs in the eighth helped the Bulldogs get a base runner, but Owen Michelson flew out to shallow left field to end the frame, leading the game to the exciting ninth.

Tuggle went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored. A&T returns to conference action starting Friday with a 6 p.m. start from The War against William & Mary. It will be the first of a three-game series, which includes Saturday's game, where the Aggies will celebrate Alumni Day. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. The series finale is Sunday at 1 p.m.