Larson continues to swing the bat well goes 4-for-6 on the day

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ELON, April 19, 2007 – The North Carolina A&T softball team was on the brink of victory twice on Thursday evening and had it slip away twice. Late rallies by the Phoenix helped it defeat the Aggies 11-9 and 7-5 at East Field.

Freshman first baseman Jessie Larson continued her hot hitting as she went a combined 4-for-6 with five RBI and one run scored on the day. Sylvia Felder was a combined 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two RBI. Lillian Bullock hit her 14th home run of the season, which gives her the nation's lead among freshman.

In the first game, the Aggies went into the fifth down 7-3. But Larson earned a one-out walk that began a huge six-run rally for the Aggies. Conover followed Larson’s walk with a walk of her own. Lillian Bullock loaded the bases with a single to center field. Adia Dial, sporting a new look with eye glasses, doubled to the left-center field gap, scoring Larson and Conover to move the Aggies to within two runs, 7-5.

After Elon pitching change, Tabitha Veney hit a line drive up the middle that was almost caught by Elon shortstop Tracey Dahlen. But instead her diving attempt just knocked down the ball, which allowed Bullock to score. Jessica Cooper loaded the bases by reaching on a fielder’s choice. Sylvia Felder hit a deep drive to center field that went in out of the center fielder’s glove, allowing Dial and Veney to score to give the Aggies an 8-7 lead.

Chaola Simmons kept the inning going with a groundball to the pitcher. When the Phoenix pitcher turned to throw to third, it was wide to the right allowing Cooper to slide in safely to re-load the bases. Larson would hit a two-single through the right side, scoring Cooper to give the Aggies a 9-7 lead.

But the Phoenix offense got going in the sixth. Debbie Zeigler led the inning off with a double to left-center field. Brandi Jones followed with another double to score Zeigler to move the Phoenix to within one. Melanie Helterbran singled home Jones to tie the game at 9. It appeared Aggies starter Sasha Philpot had settled in to shut down the Phoenix. Philpot retired the next Phoenix batters.

But Patti Weber hit the Phoenix’s third double of the inning to score pinch-runner Jaymie Shanahan to give the Phoenix the lead. Paige Goss added a cushion when she smacked a triple past a drawn-in outfield that scored Helterbran to give the Phoenix a two-run lead.

The Aggies threatened in their half of the seventh. Cooper led off the inning with a walk and Felder followed with a single before a strange play occurred. Simmons hit a hot shot toward third. She hit it so sharply it was unsure whether Zeigler caught the line shot in the air at third or if she trapped it. Unsure, Cooper and Felder didn’t move.

Umpires ruled Zeigler trapped it, which led to Cooper and Felder being doubled up, leaving Simmons at first with two outs. Britney Hodges fouled out to third to end the first game. Philpot took the loss to drop to 12-9 on the season.

In the second game, Tabitha Veney started the Aggies late-inning surge with the Aggies leading 4-3. In the sixth, Veney hit a one-out double to left-center. After Cooper struck out, the Aggies would need a two-out rally to take the lead. It’s exactly what they received.

Felder singled to left field to score Veney and tie the game. Simmons followed with another single to put runners on first and second. Yahamma White broke out of 4-for-29 slump with a 3-for-3 game that included a single in the sixth that scored Felder to give the Aggies a 5-4 lead. Jessie Larson loaded the bases we should was hit by a pitch, but all three Aggies were stranded.

Elon would rally with three runs in its half of the sixth to regain the lead. With one out in the seventh, the tying run came to the plate thanks to a one-out single by Dial. Elon reliever Meredith Gay retired the next two Aggies to end the game. The Aggies fell to 21-28 on the season as Dial took the loss on the mound to fall to 8-12 on the season.