Phelps earns second save of the season in Game 2

Box Score     Box Score 2
NORFOLK, Va., March 24, 2007 – A big part of the North Carolina A&T baseball lineup has been missing most of the season. Slugger Patrick Oates, who has 16 career home runs for the Aggies, is back in their lineup and it is starting to pay dividends.

Oates went 3-for-4 with two RBI and a home run in the second game of a doubleheader against Norfolk State on Saturday as the Aggies won their first conference game of the season 8-7 at Marty L. Miller Field. The Aggies lost the first game of the doubleheader 9-1 with Joe McIntyre going 3-for-4.

The Aggies are 6-15 overall and 1-1 in the MEAC and will conclude their three-game series with the Spartans Sunday at noon.

After giving up six runs in the last two innings of the first game, the Aggies jumped on the Spartans early in the second contests. They scored one run in the first, which was matched by the Spartans in their half of the first. A five-run Aggies second started the separations. It was started by a Nelson Santos walk. Lester Rivenbark and C.J. Beatty would help the Aggies load the bases with back-to-back infield singles.

Norfolk State starter Joey Seal compounded his problems by walking McIntyre, which forced in Santos for a 2-1 Aggies lead. Jeremy Jones kept the inning going with a groundball to second that forced out McIntyre t second, but allowed Rivenbark to score for a 3-1 lead. Charlie Gamble registered the Aggies third infield single of the inning, which scored Beatty from third.

Seal hurt himself again by tossing a wild pitch, allowing Jones to score. Gamble capped the scoring by scoring off of an Oates RBI double for a 6-1 Aggies lead.

Oates gave the Aggies a 7-2 lead in the fifth with his first home run of the season, a solo shot off of Spartans reliever Leon Schabacker. The Spartans fought back with three runs in the sixth to cut the Aggies lead to 7-5.  After a double by Gamble and a single from Oates, Kory Kinnear helped the Aggies added what turned out to be the winning run when Gamble scored.

Aggies reliever Jody Calloway started the seventh by striking out John Boyd. But Billy Canady would start the scare with a single. Calloway walked Charles LaLane to put runners on first and second. Moriba George loaded the bases with a single off of Calloway. Lyall Foran followed with a singled through the right side for a two-run RBI single that cut the Aggies lead to one run.

Aggies head coach Keith Shumate turned to 2006 saves leader Ron Phelps to cool off the Spartans. Phelps got Juan Serrano and Ernie Banks to hit into fielder’s choices that eliminated runners going to second to earn his first save of the season.

Tim Johnson (2-2) was the winner. Chris Eggers (2-4) was the loser of Game 1 after pitching 6.2 innings, striking out four and giving up five earned runs. Serrano hurt the Aggies with five RBI in Game 1.