Johnson strikes out 11

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GREENSBORO, March 29, 2008 – Not even a dreary day at War Memorial Stadium could slow down Tim Johnson. The senior continues to come up with big pitching performances for the Aggies as his complete-game outing helped the Aggies defeat Florida A&M 9-2 in the first game of doubleheader action on Saturday afternoon. The Aggies lost the second game 6-4. 

In the first game, C.J. Beatty and Joe Wade had three RBIs apiece. Johnson (4-1) went the distance, striking out 11 and lowering his ERA to 2.33. In the second game, Joe McIntyre hit a three-run homer and Jeremy Jones followed with a solo shot but it wasn’t enough to hinder a strong pitching performance from Ratters starter Miguel Parga.

The Aggies (11-14, 4-1 MEAC) started the day by removing a tarp off of the War Memorial Stadium after a steady Saturday morning rain. N.C. A&T turned things over to Johnson who struggled early by walking three batters over the first two innings.

He got out of those early jams and then watched as the Aggies built him a lead. Neal Rosser opened the third with a double down the left field line which was followed by a B.J. Curtis triple to the right filed corner to give the Aggies a 1-0 advantage. Walks to Nick Mayo and Jones loaded the bases for Beatty. He responded by landing a fly ball between the Rattlers center fielder and second baseman to score Curtis and Mayo for a 3-0 lead.

The Aggies added to their lead over the fourth and fifth innings as they went into their half of the sixth with a 5-1 lead before putting the game away. Eddie Thomas entered the game for the Rattlers in the sixth, but hurt himself by walking the first three batters he faced. Joe Wade made his shaky start costly by doubling down the right field line to score Nick Rogers and Rosser for a 7-1 lead. Sacrifice flies from Mayo and Beatty capped the Aggies four-run inning.

Johnson threw his 100^th pitch in the seventh inning, but remained strong to close out the win. He ended the game by striking out Tim Jones.

But the Aggies would sustain their first loss in the conference thanks to a strong performance by Parga who had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning of seven-inning game. Parga held a 6-0 lead in the sixth, but walked Rosser and Lester Rivenbark to open the inning. With two out, however, Joe McIntyre ended any hopes of a no-hitter by launching Parga’s pitch far beyond the right field wall to move the Aggies to within 6-3.

Jones followed by doing the same exact thing in almost the same exact spot to move the Aggies to within two. Beatty came behind Jones and appeared his ball would leave the park too. But it settled into the glove of center fielder Steve Cunningham. Parga returned to his old ways in the seventh, by retiring the Aggies in order to improve to 2-1. He went seven innings, gave up two hits, walked five and struck out four.

The two teams play again Sunday, starting at 1 p.m., from War Memorial Stadium.