Beatty hits league-leading 10^th home run of the season

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GREENSBORO, April 26, 2008 – North Carolina A&T senior pitcher Tim Johnson did nothing to hurt his status as the Mid-Eastern Conference’s top winner and best strike out man on Saturday. The senior out of Statesville, N.C., struck out nine to improve to 8-2 on the season as he led the Aggies to a 14-2 win over Delaware State in the first game of a doubleheader played at War Memorial Stadium.

Despite a strong pitching performance from John Primus, the Aggies lost the second game 5-2. In a series that could determine the No. 2 seed in the MEAC Tournament, the Aggies improved to 20-25 overall and 7-6 in the MEAC. The Hornets are 15-24 and 10-3 in the conference.

Johnson could be looking forward to the tournament. He continued his dominance of MEAC opponents as he improved to 4-1 in the conference by dominating early. He struck out four of the first six batters he faced. JR McAllister was also strong early. He held the Aggies to just one hit over the first three innings, but in the fourth the Aggies would begin to give Johnson the help he needed.

Joe McIntyre hit his 23^rd career home run in the fourth, a two-run shot that scored Jeremy Jones for a 2-0 Aggies lead. The offense kept coming in the fifth. Nelson Santos opened the inning by walking and going to third on a throwing error. Neil Rosser sacrifice fly to left scored Santos from third for a 3-0 Aggies lead. With the bases cleared, McAllister would further his troubles by walking Nick Mayo and hitting James Howard with a pitch to put runners on first and second.

Jones took advantage by ripping a double to score both runners. C.J. Beatty followed with another hit to score Jones and give the Aggies a 6-0 lead. McIntyre closed out the five-run fifth inning with a double to score Beatty for a 7-0 advantage. Beatty put the Hornets away in the sixth with a grand slam home run. It was Beatty’s MEAC-leading 10^th home run of the season and the 20^th of his young career. Neil Rosser would add a three-run homer for the Aggies to enact the mercy rule.

Johnson ended the game by going seven innings, giving up six hits, two earned runs and walking just one Hornet. Johnson leads the conference in both wins and strike outs and ranks in the top 15 nationally in wins and strike outs.

Fellow senior pitcher Primus appeared to have the Aggies headed toward another big conference win. RBI singles by McIntyre and Nick Rogers gave the Aggies a 2-0 first inning lead. It’s a lead Primus maintained until the sixth. But two fielding errors helped the Hornets get back in the game. The second error allowed James Johnson Ryne Mailen to score to tie the game at 2.

Another miscue would eventually do the Aggies in. With the bases loaded and two outs, head coach Keith Shumate turned to reliable reliever Chris Eggers in the eighth. Jose Sanchez hit what appeared to be a harmless fly ball. But who was going to catch the ball became a source of confusion between the Aggies center fielder, right fielder and second baseman. The ball bounced in-between all three, clearing the bases for the Hornets for a three-run lead.

Primus was the tough-luck loser as he dropped to 2-4 on the season. Josh Schmidt got the win to improve to 6-4. The two teams will play again Sunday at 1 p.m. Ten Aggie seniors will be honored before the game.