Box Score
GREENSBORO, April 25, 2007 – There is plenty of bad news to pull out from the North Carolina A&T’s baseball teams last two games.

On Wednesday night at UNCG Baseball Stadium, the Aggies lost to UNC-Greensboro 17-10. It came a night after giving up 22 runs to Winthrop. But when you put the bad news into perspective, the news doesn’t seem that bad.

The Aggies have changed pitchers 18 times over the last two games. While head coach Keith Shumate is trying to win, he also understand he has a huge weekend series with conference foe Delaware State approaching, and getting his pitchers ready for that series is also crucial.

N.C. A&T is 16-26 on the season with the loss to the Spartans, but are 7-5 in the MEAC. This weekend’s series with the Hornets could determine the No. 2 seed in the MEAC Baseball Tournament May 17-19 in Norfolk, Va. The Hornets will have a half-game lead over the Aggies for second place going into the series.

In the Aggies last two games, Shumate has worked in all three of his weekend starters in John Primus, Tim Johnson and Chris Eggers in preparation for the Delaware State series. On Wednesday, Shumate used Jonathan Smith as a mid-week starter against the Spartans.

Smith received a lot of help in the first inning as the Aggies scored four times. Nelson Santos started the scoring with a one-out home run. Jeremy Jones followed with a double and was singled home by Charlie Gamble. Joe McIntyre, who has 19 RBI and three home runs in his last 10 games, belted a two-run homer to give the Aggies a 4-0 lead.

But the Spartans answered with five runs in the first, a run in the second and two runs in the third to take an 8-5 lead.  

They pulled away even further in the fourth as Matt Gaski’s two-run double was the key in a five-run inning to give the Spartans a 13-6 lead. The Aggies chipped away at the lead. Neil Rosser hit his third home run in five games to pull the Aggies to within six. Rosser is also 6-for-13 in his last five games and has raised his batting average by 58 points.

In the seventh, Patrick Oates hit his seventh home run of the season to tie teammate C.J. Beatty for the team and MEAC lead. Oates’ shot went over the right-center field wall and brought home Gamble for a two-run shot to pull the Aggies to within four, 13-9. The Spartans turned to reliever Alex Shelton and the fun times ended.

Shelton pitched 2.2 innings, gave up one run and two hits to slow down the Aggies offense. Meanwhile, the Spartans added insurance runs down the stretch to clinch the win. Smith (0-3) took the loss for the Aggies, while Rob Gilliam (2-0) was the winning pitcher.

McIntyre led the Aggies with a 3-for-5 day that included three RBI, two runs scored and his fourth home run of the season. Santos, Gamble and Rosser had two hits apiece.

 The Aggies weekend series with the Hornets on Saturday with a 1 p.m., doubleheader in Dover, Del. The series will continue on Sunday at noon.