SAVANNAH, Ga. (March 30, 2018) – Senior Josh Stikeleather is one of North Carolina A&T baseball's top relievers. But on Friday he performed like one of their top starters in relief. Stikeleather pitched seven innings of scoreless relief on Friday to lead the Aggies to a 3-2 win in 14 innings over Savannah State at Tiger Stadium.
The Aggies (11-14, 3-4 MEAC) aided Stikeleather's performance by rallying to tie the game in the eighth before winning it in the 14th. Redshirt junior A.J. Hunt singled and then stole second base before scoring the game-winning run on an error by the Tigers third baseman Freddie Landers to give the Aggies a key win in the opening game of the three-game Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference series.
Due to heavy rain in the area, the originally scheduled doubleheader was changed to a single game. The two teams will play a noon doubleheader on Saturday. In defeating the Tigers in extra innings, N.C. A&T moved to 3-1 in extra-inning games.
Stikeleather was not the only effective Aggies pitcher on Friday.
Junior starter Tim Luth made his seventh start of the season striking out five and did not walk a batter in seven innings pitched. Stikeleather (2-1) got the win by striking out a season-high nine batters.
Hunt notched his ninth multi-hit performance this season with two hits including a double and an RBI. Senior outfielder Greg White also had two hits with two stolen bases and has reached base in 23 consecutive games.
In the first inning N.C. A&T took the early lead off an RBI double to left field by Hunt to score White who led off the inning with a single up the middle. The Aggies did not get another hit until the seventh inning.
SSU (5-15, 2-5 MEAC) used three hits to take a 2-1 advantage in the home seventh. The Aggies responded in the top of the eighth off back-to-back singles by senior outfielder Myles Sowell and White. Senior catcher Adan Ordonez tied the game with an RBI sacrifice fly to left scoring Sowell to tie the game at 2.
Stikeleather replaced Luth in the eighth after the Tigers put two runners on base with no outs following a single and a bunt. Stikeleather came through in the clutch for the Aggies striking out the first batter he faced. He then forced a double play by catching a line out and then tossing to first to double off the runner.
