Jones goes a combined 5-for-8 with three RBI

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GREENSBORO, May 10, 2007 – The North Carolina A&T baseball team proved it might be a better baseball team than its record indicates. The Aggies completed a three-game sweep of Jackson State on Thursday with a doubleheader sweep of the Tigers, 6-5 and 11-4.  Both games were scheduled for seven innings to allow the Tigers to get on the road to Mississippi earlier.

The Tigers came into the game as the No. 3 team in black college baseball. But the Aggies used clutch-hitting and solid pitching to improve to 23-29 on the season as they closed out their home schedule with a 14-8 home record. The Tigers are 31-21 on the season.

In the first game on Thursday, Joe McIntyre made the Tigers life miserable again. After hitting a walk-off single on Wednesday to defeat the Tigers, McIntyre came to the plate again on Thursday with an opportunity to end the game with a hit. He did. McIntyre lined an Enrique Quintero over the head of second baseman Kevin Patterson for a base hit that scored Charlie Gamble.

N.C. A&T came into the bottom of the seventh down 5-4. Nick Mayo led the inning with a double down the left field line. Mayo moved to third on an error by Quintero. Jones, who was a combined 5-for-8 on the day with three RBI and two runs scored, hit a sharp line drive back up the middle to tie the game. Gamble reached on a fielder’s choice that eliminated Jones from the base pads.

Gamble moved himself into scoring position by stealing second, which was huge when considering who was coming to the plate. McIntyre is hitting .397 with runners in scoring position, and he delivered once again with his walk-off single.

Joe Wade had two RBI in the game, and Jones, Gamble and Mayo had two hits apiece. Gamble hit his eighth home run of the season and the 32^nd of his career. Tim Johnson had a serviceable start, going six innings, giving up four earned runs and striking out seven. Johnson gave up three runs in the first inning, which included a two-run homer by Anthony McLin to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

Johnson quickly received help in the second as back-to-back singles by C.J. Beatty and Kory Kinnear, set up an RBI double from Nelson Santos to put the Aggies on the board. Wade tied the game at three with a single to center field that scored Kinnear and Santos. Marquis Frink (1-0) earned the win in relief.

In the second game, the Aggies didn’t need a late-game hit from McIntyre. Leading 6-4, the Aggies broke the game open in the fourth. Jones and Gamble started the inning with singles. Beatty walked to load the bases, which was followed by a sharp groundball to second hit by Kinnear. Quintero made a diving stop, but his throw to force out Beatty at second went into left field, allowing Jones and Gamble to score.

Santos’ bloop single to left loaded the bases again for the Aggies. But Rosser hit into a fielder’s choice that forced Beatty out at home. Wade re-ignited the inning; however, with a single to left field to score Santos and Kinnear to give the Aggies a commanding 10-4 lead. The big inning gave starter Chris Eggers a big enough cushion to help the redshirt junior improve to 5-8 on the season.

Wade, Jones, Kinnear and Santos had two RBI apiece in the game. The Aggies conclude their regular-season on 3 p.m., Wednesday at Duke.