Beatty hits two homers in Game 1

Box Score Game 1           Box Score Game 2
GREENSBORO, February 23, 2008 – Early indications are there is no sophomore slump in store for CJ Beatty.

Beatty went a combined 4-for-7 with two home runs and four RBI to lead the North Carolina A&T baseball team to a doubleheader sweep of Buffalo 9-1 and 10-4 at War Memorial Stadium on Saturday. The Aggies improved to 2-0 while the Bulls fail to 0-2.

In the opener, Beatty, the 2007 MEAC Rookie of the Year, took the first pitch he saw on the season and towered over the right field fence for a solo home run and a 1-0 Aggies lead. The Bulls’ Nick Walczak evened the score in the sixth by going deep off of N.C. A&T starter Tim Johnson.

The Aggies broke the game open in the next half inning, however. The Aggies put together six straight hits and a walk off of starter Zach Anderson before he was replaced by reliever Mike Stangroom.

Nick Mayo opened the inning with a double followed by an RBI single from Joe McIntyre. Jeremy Jones put two men on when he singled up the middle. Nick Rogers, a starting pitcher for the Aggies last season, followed by earning his first two career RBIs with a double to left-center, scoring McIntyre and Jones for a 4-1 lead.

The biggest blow came from Beatty in the sixth. He took a 3-1 pitch from Anderson to the deepest part of center field. The ball bounced of the top of the wall and fell back into play. Originally, the umpires called it a double.

Johnson took care of business on the mound for the Aggies. The senior pitched a complete-game six-hitter and struck out seven. 

In the second game, Jones broke open a close game by hitting two-run homer to right-center in the seventh to give N.C. A&T a 7-4 lead. Jones followed that with a two-run RBI single in the eighth to put away the Bulls. Jones was a combined 4-for-9 on the day with four RBI. Chris Eggers who pitched five innings of relief for the Aggies in the second game to earn the win.

The Aggies and the Bulls finish out their three-game series with a noon contest at War Memorial Stadium on Sunday.