AGGIES TO
FACE REGIONAL HOST CLEMSONAggies will be making their first appearance in the NCAA Tournament
GREENSBORO, N.C., MAY 30, 2005 – Some may call it a coincidence. Others may call it clever marketing. Whatever you call it really doesn’t matter to the N.C. A&T baseball team. It is headed to the NCAA Tournament, and now that 11:30 a.m., Monday has passed, the Aggies even know where they are playing.
N.C. A&T (27-25) will open against regional host Clemson on Friday, June 3 at 7 p.m.
The Tigers are coached by Jack Leggett. When Leggett was the coach at West Carolina, he coached a fiery designated hitter by the name of Keith Shumate. Shumate will take his Aggies team down to Clemson this week to face Leggett and his Tigers. Whether this story is a coincidence or a cleverly plotted storyline is of no concern to Shumate.
He’s just happy his Aggies are still playing.
“This is just a great moment for the kids in this program,’’ Shumate said. “These young men have worked hard for this program, put it in the extra time it takes to be champions so they deserve an opportunity to play in the NCAA tournament.”
The Aggies discovered their destination at a selection show luncheon Shumate organized for the team at J.P. Looney’s in Greensboro. The team watched ESPN on the widescreen as the announcer called out the name of North Carolina A&T and congratulated the team on his first appearance in the tournament.
On May 1, the Aggies captured their third MEAC Championship by defeating Norfolk State 10-9. Although the Aggies have won the MEAC tourney twice before, but this week will mark their first-ever NCAA appearance.
The Aggies are in the midst of their best season ever. Their 27 wins is a school record, they won the regular-season MEAC crown, four players made first-team All-MEAC with Jeremy Jones winning MEAC Player of the Year and they were ranked No. 1 by blackcollegebaseball.com.
They face a Clemson team that is 39-21 overall and 21-9 in the ACC, a conference which has seven teams in the tournament. The Tigers have plenty of experience in the NCAA tournament. They’ve hosted games 34 times and will be playing in their 149th tournament game.
“We’ll have to hit the ball and catch the ball like we’ve done all season,’’ said Jones, who owns the school record for hits in a season with 79. “This is certainly a step up in competition, but we’ve faced tough opponents all season. We’re glad we have this opportunity.”
The Aggies are 1-2 against ACC teams this season. They split with Duke in February, and two weeks ago they lost 2-0 to Virginia. It was a game in which ace Michael Hauff pitched very well. The Cavaliers eliminated the Tigers from the ACC Tournament on Saturday.\
The regional consists of four teams and has a double elimination format. The other two teams in the Clemson regional are No. 2 seed Oral Roberts and No. 3 seed College of Charleston.