Aggies hit six home runs and earn 18 hits

Box Score
BOONE, N.C., April 18, 2007 --  North Carolina A&T blasted six home runs, all in the final
five innings, to defeat Appalachian State University baseball, 16-15, on Wednesday afternoon at Beaver Field at Jim and Bettie Smith Stadium.

The Aggies improved to 15-22 overall and won for the sixth time in their last seven games. N.C. A&T’s six homers were the most hit by the Aggies in a single game in records dating back to 1982. Patrick Oates and Neil Rosser had two home runs apiece, while C.J. Beatty hit his team and MEAC-leading seventh home run of the season. Jeremy Jones also homered for the Aggies.

Rosser had four RBI, while Gamble and Oates had three apiece. Jeremy Jones’ home run in the ninth put the Aggies up for good on Wednesday.

Nick Mayo led the off the ninth with a single. After Joe Wade flew out to right field, Jones followed with his third home run of the season and the 12^th of his career to give the Aggies a 15-14 lead. Charlie Gamble followed with a double to left center, which brought up the Aggies leading RBI man in Joe McIntyre.

McIntyre, the reigning MEAC Player of the Week, singled to right center to score Gamble. It was McIntyre’s team-leading 41^st RBI. McIntyre’s single was crucial because the Mountaineers were not ready to quit.

With one out in the Mountaineers half of the ninth, David Rubinstein homered to center field to make it a one-run game. Ron Phelps, the reigning MEAC Pitcher of the Week, would run into more problems. A walk to Andrew Franco would put the winning run at the plate in Isaac Harrow.

But Harrow into a fielder’s choice that forced out pinch-runner Ryan Laboy at second. Phelps then struck out David Towarnicky to end the game. Phelps (3-3) was the winner and has been named the Aggies winning pitcher out of the bullpen in three out of the last five games. Garrett Sherrill (7-4) took the loss.

Despite the Aggies’ offensive explosion, the game remained tight throughout, thanks to a superb effort at the plate from the Mountaineers as well. In all, the two teams combined for 31 runs, 34 hits, 12 doubles and seven home runs on the afternoon.

The lead changed hands five times in the final five innings, beginning with A&T’s eight-run fifth, which turned Appalachian’s 6-0 lead into an 8-6 deficit. ASU knotted the contest at 8-8 with a pair of runs in the bottom of
the fifth, but N.C. A&T grabbed an 11-8 lead with a run in the sixth and two more in the seventh.

The Mountaineers regained the advantage with four runs in the bottom of the seventh and handed the 12-11 lead into the hands of closer Sherrill.  However, in his 20^th appearance of the season, the sophomore suffered the worst outing of his career, as he allowed five runs on five hits (including two homers) in just
1.1 innings to fall to 7-4 on the season.  After N.C. A&T took a 13-12 lead on Patrick Oates’ two-run homer in the top of the eighth (his second long ball of the day), ASU answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the stanza to take a 14-13 advantage into the ninth

Rubinstein finished 4-for-5 with three doubles, ASU’s only homer and five RBI to lead Appalachian’s 16-hit output.

The Aggies will try to add their good fortunes of late as they host a three-game series against Division I independent Longwood this weekend at War Memorial Stadium. Saturday’s doubleheader starts at 11 a.m. Sunday’s game starts at 1 p.m.