Early lead not enough for UNCG, as N.C. A&T Aggies top Spartans, 7-5: Freshmen pitchers set the tone for Aggies’ victory
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
UNC-Greensboro 1 2 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 5 11 1
North Carolina A&T 0 0 1 0 0 2 1 3 X 7 14 2
W: DEMURIAS, Evan (1-1) L: Alex Hoppe (1-1)
Spartans Early Lead Not Enough Against N.C. A&T Aggies
Freshman Evan Demurias(1-1) picked up the win for the Aggies, and he went three innings, giving up no runs on one hit, with one walk and three strikeouts, to earn the win, his first of the 2022 season, and his first victory in an Aggie uniform…
Jaheim Brown got the start for A&T, going six innings, and giving up five runs, on ten hits, with one walk and six strikeouts…Brown, is also a freshman for A&T, and the Aggies pitching staff was going young on Tuesday, but they were also winning vs. a quality opponent on Tuesday….
The N.C. A&T Aggies center fielder, T.J. Ash, from Southeast Guilford High School, was solid at the plate for A&T, going 1-2, with one run scored, and one run driven in….Ash also reached base twice for the Aggies, on base-on-balls/walks….The local looking good for the local Aggies, on Tuesday, vs. UNCG….
(Above info from GreensboroSports.com)
from www.uncgspartans.com:
GREENSBORO, N.C.– The UNC Greensboro (UNCG) baseball team fell to the North Carolina A&T Aggies, 7-5 on Tuesday evening. Freshman Hunter Shuey earned his first collegiate start.
An error by the Aggies’ first baseman allowed Kennedy Jones to reach second base, giving UNCG the early threat in the top of the first. Jones advanced to third on a single by Pres Cavenaugh. Zack Budzik would earn his fifth RBI of the season when his single brought Jones home.
It was another error by the Aggies in the top of the second that put a Spartan on base, this time it was Mitchell Smith. Ethan McKay got on base on a walk. Jones came up to the plate and singled up the middle to bring Smith and McKay home.
The Spartans wouldn’t score again until the top of the fifth inning. Budzik singled to third base and was brought home on a single by Matt Kemp. Bradley Bott scored UNCG’s last run on a flyout from Cavenaugh.
The Aggies scored three runs in the bottom of the eighth to take a 7-5 lead and take the game.
Hunter Shuey made his first collegiate start. He pitched 3.0 innings, allowed one run, and struck out two. RHP Kross Robinson made his 2022 debut in the seventh inning. He pitched 0.2 innings and only allowed two hits.
Austin Koehn and Alex Hoppe also made an appearance on the mound. Koehn pitched 3.0 innings and struck out two batters. Hoppe pitched the final 1.1 innings and struck out one.
RECORDS
UNCG: 3-5, 0-0
NC A&T: 3-5, 0-0
BY THE NUMBERS
Five different Spartans scored runs in the game: Jones, Budzik, Smith, McKay, and Bott.
Budzik led with three hits. Jones and Hogan Windish followed with two.
With his one run, two hits, and two RBI’s, Jones brings his season total to 10 runs, 15 hits, and 13 RBIs.
He leads the team in all three categories.
McKay and Cavenaugh were the only Spartans to earn a walk.
McKay stole his first base in his college career.
UPCOMING
UNCG will have a four-game homestand starting on Friday as they host the Towson Tigers for a three-game series. The Spartans will cap off their homestand with a Tuesday game against ACC powerhouse, NC State.
from www.ncataggies.com:
Baseball Ends Drought Against UNCG
Aggies beat Spartans for the first time in four years.
EAST GREENSBORO – For the first time since 2019, the North Carolina A&T baseball team earned a win over the UNC Greensboro Spartans. The Aggies rallied from a four-run deficit Tuesday afternoon at World War Memorial Stadium to down the Spartans, 7-5.
A&T (3-5) trailed 5-1 in the sixth inning, with three of the Spartans’ (3-5) runs unearned on a pair of errors from third baseman Cort Maynard.
But junior Bret Mersman roped a one-out double to center field before graduate Alec Seaton did the same, smacking his team-leading fourth two-bagger to left center, scoring Mersman. Sophomore TJ Ash then sliced a two-out single up the middle to score Seaton and to cut UNCG’s lead to 5-3.
A&T continued to inch closer in the seventh when Hennings blooped an RBI single right over second base to score junior Cameran Brantley.
Freshman right-hander Evan Demurias (W, 1-1) relieved fellow freshman Jaheim Brown in the seventh and allowed just one hit over the final three innings with three strikeouts, enabling the Aggie offense the chance to come back.
Seaton led off the home eighth with yet another double, his fifth of the year. Barrett ran out a high-chopper to put runners on the corners with no one out. Ash drew a walk to load the bases with freshman Canyon Brown coming to the plate. Brown whacked a grounder to third, but it rolled right between UNCG infielder Matt Kemp’s legs to tie the game at 5.
Brantley would pull a grounder toward the hole between first and second base, but Spartan second baseman Hogan Windish made a great play, firing the ball home to get the force out at the plate and save the run.
Already 2-for-2 on the day, sophomore Alex Reyna stepped to the plate. He wasted no time, narrowly fitting a single through the left side to score both Ash and Brown to give the Aggies a 7-5 lead. UNCG caught Brantley in a rundown trying to get to third on the play, and then the Spartans threw out Reyna, trying to swipe second to end the frame.
UNCG’s Pres Cavenaugh drew a one-out walk, and then Zack Budzik singled to put runners on first and second in the visitor’s ninth. However, Demurias got Windish to hit into a game-ending double play to give the Aggies the win over their crosstown rival.
“I’m excited, man,” said A&T coach Ben Hall. “It was a great ballgame, and we really competed. There was a point in the game where we could’ve let it get away from us, but credit to the players. They rallied up and made the adjustments and kept playing the game and competing, and there’s a big saying in baseball, ‘You have 27 outs to play with, and you just have to continue to compete through all 27 outs, and that’s what they did tonight.”
Reyna turned in the best game of his career, going 3-for-3 with that go-ahead, two-run single in the eighth. He also had two putouts, four assists and two double plays defensively at shortstop.
“That guy has gotten so much better,” said Hall of Reyna. “He’s a much better hitter today than he was the last couple of years, and he’s got more confidence. He’s a guy that went out and played in the Appalachian League this summer and found some confidence in the box. He can play anywhere on the field, and he just competes.”
Seaton joined Reyna with a multi-hit game in his 2-for-4 performance, including two doubles, an RBI and two runs scored. Barrett had his first multi-hit game as an Aggie, going 2-for-4, and Brantley went 2-for-5 with a double and two runs scored.