N.C. A&T Baseball tops UNCG 8-5, as Camden Williamson(Dudley HS) hits key HR that lifts Aggies over Spartans:”The Gate City Clash” and “The Gate City Splash”

Camden/Cam Williamson, from Dudley High School, and now with the North Carolina A&T Aggies hit a three-run shot that senet A&T over UNCG 8-5 on Tuesday night in a key inter-city baseball game that was played downtown at First National Bank Field…

Williamson was 3-4 at the plate, with 4 RBI….

The Aggies(11-9) were behind several times in this ball game, but they kept coming back…

Zach McLean, from High Point Christian Academy and High Point Central High School also drove in a key run for the A&T Aggies….

Ryan Caveness, from Southern Guilford High School, drove in four runs for UNCG(13-5), while Caleb Webster(Randleman High School) was 2-out-of-3 at the plate….

from www.ncataggies.com:
EAST GREENSBORO – Junior Cam Williamson hit a two-out three-run home run in the fifth inning to lift the North Carolina A&T baseball team to a 7-5 win over UNC Greensboro Wednesday night at First National Bank Field, home of the Class A Greensboro Grasshoppers.

Williamson went 3-for-4 on the day with two runs scored and four RBI. It was Williamson fourth multiple-hit game and his third multiple-RBI game of the season. Senior Jason King had a 2-for-3 night with two runs scored. Junior Dustin Baber scored three times.

It was just the Aggies 11th win over UNCG in 52 tries. But the Aggies (11-9) have won three out of the last five and the last two matchups including last season’s 3-2 win over the Spartans.

N.C. A&T trailed 4-3 going into the fifth inning after falling behind 3-0 in the first inning to UNCG. King and Baber singled before freshman Donte Wade and senior A.J. Hunt were struck out by UNCG RHP Corey Jackson who relieved starter Maddux Holshouser (LHP). Jackson appeared headed toward another strikeout when his first two pitches to Williamson went for strikes.

But Williamson took the third pitch he saw and landed over the right-center wall toward downtown Greensboro to give the Aggies a 6-4 lead. The Aggies added to that lead in the sixth inning when junior Zach McLean doubled and reach third base on an error. Freshman Tony Mack brought him home by grounding out to third to put the Aggies in front by three runs.

For most of the game, the Aggies relied on what has been a very good bullpen this season. Five Aggies came out of the bullpen to combine to pitch six innings where only one run was surrendered on two hits and two walks.

Freshman LHP Peyton Winebarger replaced junior RHP Justin Fox with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth. Winebarger got Josh Madole to ground out to second to end the Spartans threat and keep the Aggies in the lead.

Senior RHP Leon Davidson replaced Winebarger with two outs and UNCG runners on third and second with one out in the seventh. Davidson did get UNCG’s Ryan Caveness to ground out to third, but Greg Hardison did score from third to cut the Aggies lead to 7-5. Davidson ended the inning by striking out Madole.

In the eighth, senior RHP Roberto Negron set the Spartans down in order before the Aggies were able to add a run in the ninth inning off an RBI single from Wade that scored Baber for an 8-5 advantage. Negron retired the side in order again in the ninth to earn the save. Winebarger (1-0) picked up the win after pitching 1 2/3 innings.

Jackson (2-3) took the loss for UNCG. After facing a 3-0 deficit early in the game, the Aggies got a run back in the second inning when a Williamson single and a double from senior Dawnoven Smith led to an RBI sacrifice fly from McLean. The Aggies tied the game at 3 in the third inning as King doubled and Baber walked.

King and Baber advanced on a passed ball before Hunt grounded out to score King. Williamson followed with an RBI single to left field to score Baber to make a 3-3 game. UNCG did retake the lead on an RBI sac fly in the third before the Aggies big fifth inning.

UNCG was led Caleb Webster who went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.

N.C. A&T returns to action over the weekend when they start a three-game series with Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) opponent Bethune-Cookman. The first game is 6 p.m., Friday in Daytona Beach, Fla. Saturday’s game starts at 4 p.m., and Sunday’s series finale is at noon.

from www.uncgspartans.com:
GREENSBORO, N.C. – UNCG junior Ryan Caveness finished 1-for-3 from the plate and tallied four RBI, while teammate Caleb Webster closed the game 2-for-3 with one RBI, but it was a three-run home run in the fifth inning by N.C. A&T that lifted the crosstown rivals to an 8-5 victory on Tuesday evening at the First National Bank Ballpark.

The Spartans (13-5) bolted out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning as Greg Hardison singled through the right side of the infield for the first UNCG hit. He came home shortly thereafter following a triple to right field by Caleb Webster, establishing a 1-0 lead. Two batters later, with Webster at third, Ryan Caveness lifted a two-run home run over the left field wall to give the Spartans a 3-0 lead.

The Aggies got one run back in the top of the second and eventually tied the game at three-all with a two-run third inning.

UNCG climbed back in front 4-3 when Caveness plated Caleb Webster with a sacrifice fly to right field in the fourth. The one-run lead remained intact until the fifth, when N.C. A&T (11-9) used a three-run home run by Camden Williamson to take a 6-4 lead. The Aggies would add runs in the sixth and ninth, while UNCG manufactured its fifth run in the seventh, on a grounder to third by Caveness, to make for the 8-5 final.

FAST FACTS VERSUS THE AGGIES
-The eight runs for the Aggies mark the most in the series against UNCG since they scored nine on March 22, 2016.
-Caveness’ four-RBI outing against the Aggies mark the fourth time this season that he has multiple RBIs in a contest. His previous single-game season-high was three RBI, which came against High Point (2-5, 3 RBI / Feb. 19) and Jacksonville (1-2, 3 RBI / March 16).
-Greg Hardison extended his hitting streak to seven games after a leadoff single in the bottom of the first. The seven-game streak, which began on March 10 against Princeton, marks the longest by any Spartan this season, topping a series of six-game streaks by Mike Ferrara (March 2-March 9), Josh Madole (March 4-March 10) and Caleb Webster (March 10-March 16).
-Hogan Windish’s five-game hitting streak came to an end after a 0-for-3 outing against the Aggies.
-Aggies have won back-to-back games in the series for the first time since the 2008 when N.C. A&T claimed a 10-7 win on April 2 and followed with a 5-3 victory on May 7. Before Tuesday’s 8-5 victory, the Aggies posted a 3-2 win on April 2, 2018 at the UNCG Baseball Stadium.

HEAD COACH LINK JARRETT’S TAKE ON THE GAME
“N.C. A&T played a solid ball game and earned their win tonight. We jumped out to a nice lead after a nice first inning offensively. (Greg) Hardison led off with a great base hit bunt followed by (Caleb) Webster’s triple and (Ryan) Caveness’ home run. We did not execute on the mound well at all. Poor pitch execution and they capitalized. Offensively, in the middle part of the game, we did not cash in on some opportunities to grind out at bats and extend our lead. The 0-2 three-run home run Williamson hit was a momentum changing pitch, and he had a good night at the plate. It is disappointing to play the way we did tonight especially after jumping out to an early lead on (Ethan) Chavis who has been very effective this season. A&T played a better ball game then we did tonight and deserved to win. Good to see Webster hit two balls hard to right field tonight, he works very hard and it was good to see those at bats.”

The Spartans turn their attention to the three-game Southern Conference opener at Mercer this weekend. The first game of the series is set for March 23 at 6 p.m. It will follow with games on March 24 (2 p.m.) and March 25 (1 p.m.).