GREENSBORO (February 16, 2018) – The North Carolina A&T softball team came home and got well in the area of pitching Friday afternoon during the annual Aggies Softball Invitational at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex.
Junior right-hand pitcher Mohagony Headen was superb in the circle during the Aggies first game of the invitational against Howard. Headen did not give up a hit over the first four innings and she did not surrender a run until the sixth inning as the Aggies defeated the Bison 5-1. Freshman RHP Hailee Cutts was headed in the same direction as Headen during the Aggies second game of the day, which was against Maryland Eastern Shore.
The game was suspended after three innings because of a lack of daylight with the Aggies leading 6-0. When the game was stopped, Cutts had not surrendered at hit over the first three innings pitched. The game will be continued on Saturday starting at 8:30 a.m. With rain in the forecast, the Aggies hope to also get a 9:30 a.m., game in between MDES and Howard as well as their scheduled noon game against Cleveland State.
With a steady rainfall occurring in the Howard game, the Aggies did not take any chances when it came to the contest being stopped. N.C. A&T took less than 90 minutes to earn their first victory of the season after losing their four games of the season in Charleston, S.C., as a part of an invitational hosted by Charleston Southern.
N.C. A&T gave Headen a lead early as an RBI double from sophomore Alyssa Green got the Aggies on the board as she brought home senior catcher Nathaly Pacheco in the second inning. Green came home when a Headen groundball was mishandled at shortstop to give the Aggies a 2-0 lead. N.C. A&T added another run in the third on an RBI single from senior outfielder Raven Gray. Gray's single scored junior outfielder Zadia Davis who reached on a single and later moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Pacheco.
Davis started the Aggies rally in the fifth as she singled with one out. After Davis stole second, Pacheco moved her to third on a single to center field. Howard starter Desiree Renteria tossed a wild pitch that allowed Davis to score to give the Aggies a 4-0 lead. Pacheco moved to third on the wild pitch which set up Green's RBI bunt single that brought home a sprinting Pacheco.
After Headen gave up a run in the sixth, Headen put the Bison down in order in the seventh to improve to 1-1 with a complete-game, three-strikeout performance. Offensively, Green was 2-for-3 with two RBI and a run scored. Davis finished the game by going 2-for-4 with two runs scored.
