Game 2 against UNC-W ends in a tie

Box Score 1          Box Score 2
GREENSBORO, MARCH 5, 2008 – Freshman pitcher Jennifer Luper has showcased what she can offer the North Carolina A&T softball program this season and beyond by starting her career 5-0. Fellow freshman Ryanne Hill has also showcased the power she can provide the Aggies program by leading the team in slugging percentage thus far this season.

On Wednesday, another member of the ‘08 freshman class – Antoinette Torres – took her turn at stepping up big for the Aggies by hitting a walk-off RBI single to give the Aggies a 5-4 win over UNC-Wilmington in eight innings in the first game of a doubleheader played at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex. The two teams played to a 5-5 tie in the second game because it was too dark outside to continue.

Bianca Alsobrook was 2-for-4 with one run scored and a RBI in the first game. Yahamma White added two RBIs in the first game. After the teams played to a 4-4 tie in the first game, international rules came into play. The player who made the last out in the previous inning is put on second. In the case of the Aggies in eighth it was Hill.

Alsobrook stepped to the plate in a slow grounder to Seahawks pitcher Amanda Aditays. Aditays decided to go to third base in attempt to throw out Hill. But the throw was too late, allowing Hill to side into third safely. Torres came to the plate and rolled an Aditays 1-2 pitch between second and first base to score Hill and give the Aggies the walk-off victory.

Starter Sasha Philpot earned the victory to improve to 4-2 on the season. Aditays fell to 3-3 on the season. The Aggies helped Philpot earn her 21st career victory by rallying on Wednesday. The Seahawks took a 4-0 lead in the first game thanks in part to a three-run homer by Carley Hughes in the third inning. It was the first of three home runs for Hughes over the two games combined.

The Aggies came back to tie the game in the fourth as Tangala Conover started the rally by hitting a one-out double to center field that appeared at first it was going to sail over the fence. After a strike out gave the Aggies two outs in the inning, Hill was able to keep the game going by tripling to left-center field to score Conover for the Aggies first run. Alsobrook kept the two-out rally going with a RBI double to score Hill.

Aditays then walked Torres to set up White’s two-out RBI single that tied the game at 4. Philpot pitched her way out of jams in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings before setting the Seahawks down in order in the eighth to set Torres’ heroics.

The Aggies also had to rally in the second game. Down 4-2 in the sixth, Torres came up with another big hit, bouncing a RBI single up the middle that scored Hill. With runners on first and second, Sylvia Felder bunted the runners into scoring position. White loaded the bases with an infield single before Simmons hit a big two-run RBI single to score pinch runner Britney Hodges and Alsobrook to give the Aggies a 5-4 lead going into the seventh.

Zapora Gaston came into the game to earn the save, but walked Jess Allen. In the midst of two batters striking out, Allen reached second base on a wild pitch, stole third and scored on a wild pitch to tie the game at 5. Morgan Walters flew out to right, giving the Aggies an excellent chance to win the game before it was called due to darkness.

But the Aggies stranded Hill at second base after she doubled to end the game. The Aggies improved to 9-2-1 on the season, while the Seahawks fell to 4-7-1. The Aggies are in action again on Thursday when they face Hampton in a 1 p.m., doubleheader in Hampton, Va.