Aggies sweep doubleheader from Coppin State  

Box Score 1

Box Score 2
BALTIMORE, Md., May 3, 2008 --  Tim Johnson moved closer to becoming the first 10-game winner in the history of the North Carolina A&T baseball program as he led the Aggies to an 18-0 win over Coppin State in the first game of a doubleheader played at Joe Cannon Stadium on Saturday. The Aggies won the second game 13-2.

The Aggies improved to 23-26 on the season and upped their conference record to 10-6 as they look to corral the No. 2 seed in the upcoming MEAC Tournament. Johnson improved to 9-2 on the season to tie Michael Hauff’s single-season school record for wins. He went seven innings, struck out 11, didn’t surrender a run and allowed the Eagles just four hits in a game that was ended early because of the mercy rule.

The Aggies put together their best hitting performance of the season as they pounded out 20 hits in Game 1. C.J. Beatty led the way with two hits and four RBIs. Beatty also hit his league-leading 11^th home run of the season. Jeremy Jones continued his hot hitting by going 2-for-4 with two runs scored and three RBIs. Nick Rogers added three RBIs and three runs scored and Nelson Santos had four hits.

In the second game, senior John Primus won the 20^th game of his career by going six innings, giving up just three hits and striking out nine. Primus’ performance put him eight strike out short of reaching 300 career strikeouts. He would join Hauff as the only other pitcher to record 300 career strikeouts.

Offensively, Rogers led the Aggies by going 2-for-4 with four RBIs, including a two-run homer. Jones added two hits, three RBIs, three runs scored and a two-run homer. Jones has hit safely in his last 10 games. Over that span, he is 20-for-38 at the plate with 15 RBIs, 17 runs scored and three home runs. Jones, who hit .402 in 2005 on his way to MEAC Player of the Year honors, is hitting .386 on the season.

The Aggies are back in action in Sunday afternoon when they play Coppin State at 1.