Nguyen records three RBIs

Box Score
GREENSBORO, March 30, 2009 – The North Carolina A&T softball team left no doubt about a series sweep of S.C. State Monday afternoon at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex. The Aggies brought 17 players to the plate in the first two innings to take a big lead early over S.C. State.

They would go on to win 11-2 in five innings because the game was stopped based on the 8-run mercy rule. The Aggies won their fourth straight game to improve to 14-11. They start the conference season off at 3-0 thanks to a three-game sweep of the Bulldogs. Lillian Bullock led the Aggies by going 3-for-3 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Jessie Larson added a 2-for-2 performance with two runs scored and two RBIs. Freshman Daniell Nguyen had three RBIs on two hits.

The Bulldogs got off to a good start by scoring a run in the first inning. But it was evident during the Aggies first at-bat that things would not go well the rest of the way. On the Bulldogs’ second pitch of the game, Yahamma White hit a roller to third. A throwing error allowed her to go to third base. Ashley Carter quickly brought her home with a single to right field. Another Bulldogs throwing error allowed Ryanne Hill to reach and Carter to score. Hill moved to second on a passed ball and to third on a steal.

Channing Statham’s groundout to first allowed Hill to score for a 3-1 Aggies lead. But even with two outs in the inning, the Aggies were not finished with their scoring spree. Bullock and Larson hit back-to-back singles. On Larson’s single, Bullock hustled all the way from first base to score. Even when the Bulldogs did things right, things went wrong.

The Bulldogs appeared to be out of the inning when Bianca Alsobrook struck out. But the ball got away from the catcher on a wild pitch, allowing Alsobrook by rule to reach first base. An infield single by Nguyen ended the Aggies first-inning scoring as Larson scored for a 5-1 Aggies advantage.  

The Aggies added three more runs in the second thanks in part to a two-run RBI double by Bullock and a RBI triple by Larson. Jennifer Luper (8-6) would earn the win on the mound for the Aggies after striking out three batters in three innings pitched. Junior Sasha Philpot and freshman Aurora Baker would pitch an inning apiece to close out the game.

The Aggies will return to action Wednesday at 2 p.m., when they go on the road to face N.C. Central in a doubleheader.