GREENSBORO (February 24, 2018) – North Carolina A&T baseball looked like a team in midseason form in Game 1 of their doubleheader against Lehigh at War Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon as they defeated the Mountain Hawks 8-4. In the game, the Aggies defense was superb, they pounded out 17 hits and they got a quality start from junior right-hander Tim Luth.
In Game 2, they were reminded that it's still early in the season. Lehigh took the second game 3-2 thanks in part to an unfortunate miscue that tends to happen early in the season. N.C. A&T is 2-4 on the season. The two teams will play the series finale 12 p.m., Sunday at War Memorial Stadium.
The first game featured a home run apiece from junior outfielder Dawnoven Smith and redshirt freshman Justin Williams, both shots went over the left field fence. Sophomore outfielder Shane Faulk went 3-for-6 with an RBI and two runs scored. Zach McLean also had a three-hit game. Senior second baseman Milton Rivera, senior catcher Adan Ordonez, junior Jarrett Norman and senior outfielder Greg White had two hits apiece.
Luth (1-0) picked up the win after going seven innings, striking out four and surrendering only one run. Meanwhile, N.C. A&T's defense turned three crucial double plays and did not commit an error.
“It started with Tim Luth giving us an outstanding start on the mound. He was aggressive with his fastball, he threw his breaking ball for a strike and as a result everyone is bouncing around making plays,” said N.C. A&T coach Ben Hall. “Good pitching keeps the flow of the game going and anytime you can get teams to put it on the ground and our guys pick it up consistently you're obviously giving yourself a chance to win.”
Luth gave up a leadoff single in the second, but quickly had the expunged by a double play that started with a toss from senior shortstop Forest Kimbrell to Rivera at second who relayed it to sophomore first baseman Zach McLean. Luth then struck out Ryan Bonshak to get out of the inning.
Trouble came Luth's way again in the third inning as a leadoff double by Thomas Shumacher was followed by an RBI single from Blake Rapoport to cut the Aggies lead to 2-1. But Rapoport was eliminated in a double play that Matt Hand hit into to help Luth get out of the inning.
The Aggies added a run in the third on an RBI double from Ordonez and another run in the fourth on an Ordonez RBI double to take a 4-1 lead. N.C. A&T broke the game open in the seventh as Williams led off the inning with his homer to left followed by a double from McLean. Lehigh turned to reliever Mike Gibson (RHP) to slow the Aggies momentum, but Kimbrell earned an infield hit to advance McLean to third before Faulk drove him home on a single through the right side.
Kimbrell was thrown out trying to steal third, but the throw to third did allow Faulk to reach second. Ordonez then drove him home with an RBI single to center to give the Aggies a 7-1 lead. The Aggies added one more run on Smith's homer to left. Levi Stroudt (0-2) took the loss for Lehigh in the first game.
While the first game consisted of 29 hits, the second game only featured six. Rivera had two of the Aggies four hits. N.C. A&T's pitching was solid in both games. Three Aggie pitchers combined to strike out nine in Game 1, while four pitchers combined to strike out 11 in the second contests. Senior Marcello Betances (RHP) had a quality start for the Aggies. He posted six strikeouts and gave up one earned run in 5.1 innings pitched.
After the Mountain Hawks (2-4) took a 1-0 lead in the third, the Aggies tied the game in the fifth as a leadoff walk to Williams led to him stealing second. With one out, Faulk laid down a perfect bunt. In his haste to throw out Faulk, Bonshak made an errant throw to first from his catcher's position. It allowed Williams to score.
The Mountain Hawks got a break in the sixth, however. With runners at first and second, an errant pickoff throw went down to second allowing both base runners to score to give the Mountain Hawks a 3-1 lead. Relief pitcher Josh Bottenfield (RHP) struck out the next two batters to get the Aggies out of the inning.
“Our pitching was outstanding,” said Hall. “Marcello had probably his best start. He pitched out of some tough jams and again was aggressive with the fastball in really locating away and filling up the zone with his slider. Our bullpen guys were good. We two-hit them. It's frustrating to lose when you do that, so right now it's a learning opportunity. We've got to cover the bag on the trail runner throw.”
N.C. A&T put the go-ahead run on in the eighth and ninth innings. Rivera reached on a single in the eighth followed by a walk to Ordonez who was replaced by junior Jason King on the base paths. Rivera moved to third on a passed ball, while King went to second on a wild pitch. It led to Smith grounding out to second to score Rivera to cut Lehigh's lead to 3-2. The Mountain Hawks added another runner when they hit White with a pitch. But Matt Hand (RHP) got junior AJ Hunt to fly out to end the inning.
Williams got on the ninth for N.C. A&T, but sophomore Ryne Stanley popped up and sophomore Camden Williamson into a double play to end the game. Betances (0-2) took the loss while Peter Moore (1-0) got the win after striking out eight Aggies.
