Three different Aggies record four hits

 

Box Score
GREENSBORO, April 15, 2007 – Rain fell from the sky. Therefore, the baseball was slippery and the field was treacherous. Therefore, there was sloppy play all over the place.

But North Carolina A&T collected 20 hits and had 29 base runners on the day, and therefore was ale to defeat Maryland-Eastern Shore 14-13 Sunday at War Memorial Stadium for a sweep of the three-game weekend series. The win marked the second time in as many games the Aggies won in their final at-bat.

On Sunday, Kory Kinnear walked with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth to force in the winning run as Jeremy Jones jogged across the plate. The Aggies won their fifth straight game to improve to 14-21 overall and 7-5 in the MEAC. Nick Mayo, Jones, Charlie Gamble, Joe McIntyre and Kinnear all had huge afternoons.

Mayo had four hits and scored five times. Jones had three hits and scored three times, while Gamble improved his hitting streak to 19 with a 4-for-5 performance that included five RBI and three runs scored. McIntyre, who had 10 RBI in the series, went 3-for-6 with two doubles and three RBI. Meanwhile, Kinnear finished four hits and two RBI.

Weather conditions affected the Aggies early. They fell behind 12-2 thanks to a nine-run UMES second inning that saw the Aggies make four errors, which forced starter Jonathan Smith to the bench early. The Aggies chipped away at the lead over the next four innings of the game. They reduced the lead to 12-8 as the bottom of the sixth began.

Nick Mayo led the sixth off by being issued a walk from UMES starter Jamar Cadejuste. Jones followed with a single to right field. Cadejuste got himself in more trouble by walking Gamble. It loaded the bases for Joe McIntyre, who has benefited greatly from the bases being loaded in the series. McIntyre crushed a grand slam and a two-run single when he came up with the bases loaded on Saturday.

On Sunday, he delivered again. McIntyre double to right to score Mayo and Jones to put the Aggies down just two runs. McIntyre’s double chased away Cadejuste in favor of Tyler Winch. Winch got off to a shaky start by throwing a wild pitch that allowed Gamble to score. Patrick Oates’ RBI single capped off the four-run inning for the Aggies and tied the score at 12.

Gamble gave the Aggies the lead in the seventh with an RBI single that scored Mayo. The Hawks wouldn’t settle for the Aggies comeback story. Josh Dean hit a two-out single to center field in the eighth. Justin Hoban followed with another single that advanced to Dean to third. Kevin Hillenburg hit a slow roller to first, but Oates’ toss to the pitcher covering was errant. It was the Aggies eighth error of the game, and it allowed Dean to tie the game at 13.

The Aggies, who got a walk-off double from McIntyre Saturday, were looking for more late-inning heroics. Jones opened the ninth with a single to right field and moved to second when Kenny Richardson bobbled the ball as he tried to pick it up. Carl Huber replaced Winch on the mound. But the Hawks would have some fielding problems of their own as Gamble’s grounder to short was fumbled putting runners on first and second. McIntyre moved the runners up by grounding out to second. The Hawks decided to intentionally walk Oates to face Kinnear, setting up the walk-off base on balls.

Ron Phelps, who pitched three innings of relief, earned the win to improve to 2-3 on the season. Phelps has not given up an earned run in his last five appearances and eight innings pitched. Winch (0-4) took the loss.

Dean had three hits for the Hawks and Hoban had two hits, two runs scored and two RBI. The Aggies are action again on Tuesday when they travel to Charlotte to face the 49ers at 6 p.m.