Luper wins her 10^th game of the season

Box Score 1

Box Score 2
GREENSBORO, April 6, 2008 – If sophomore Sasha Philpot returns to her 2007 form, the Aggies could have a formidable 1-2 punch on the mound going into the MEAC Softball Tournament. Philpot took a step toward returning to form on Sunday with a two-hit, complete-game shutout to lead North Carolina A&T to a 3-0 win over Winston-Salem State in the second game of a doubleheader played at Lady Aggies Softball Complex.

The Aggies won the first game 8-1 behind a 2-for-3, two-RBI performance by Jessie Larson. The Aggies improved to 17-11-1 overall. Lillian Bullock led the Aggies offensively in the second game with a two-run homer, but it ended up serving as insurance Philpot didn’t have to utilize.

Philpot, who struck out four batters, had command of her control all afternoon. She threw just 82 pitches in the game – 51 of them for strikes. She did not allow a hit after the fourth inning and she only allowed two base runners – both on walks – after the fourth. No Rams runner advanced past second in the game as Philpot improved to 6-6 on the season after winning her second straight decision.

Yahamma White helped the Aggies get on the board early. She hit a one-out single to right. She moved to second on a wild pitch and stole third base. After Tangie Conover walked, Larson’s grounder to second scored White from third for a 1-0 Aggies lead.

After the first, WSSU starter Amber Shore became effective on the mound as well. Shore worked herself out of jams in the third and the fifth. But she couldn’t escape the sixth without any damage. Larson’s single set up Bullock’s homer that rocketed down the left field line and stayed just inside the foul pole for her fourth home run of the season.

In the seventh, Philpot surrendered a one-out walk but struck out Whitney Hall and got Brittany Hull to groundout to end the game.

In the first game, the Aggies had better luck off of Shore who was also the Game 1 winner. With a 3-0 lead, Ryanne Hill took a Shore 0-1 pitch into the left center field gap for a two-run double. Hill would score on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Toni Torres to give the Aggies a commanding 6-0 lead.

Freshman starter Jennifer Luper, the reigning MEAC Pitcher of the Week, continued the great start to her career. With a comfortable lead for most of the game, she pitched a complete game, gave up just one run and struck out six. She threw an impressive 83 strikes on 115 pitches as she improved to 10-3 on the season.