Rattlers fall to North Carolina A&T 12-7
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (March 31) - North Carolina A&T held off a Florida A&M late inning rally as the Aggies held on for a 12-7 win over the Rattlers, Sunday afternoon at Moore-Kittles field in a MEAC matchup.
FAMU (2-27, 2-10 MEAC) finished the contest with 13 hits as Jarred Walker finished with a game high three hits, followed by both Marlon Gibbs and Kendall Weeks with two hits each for the Rattlers. In addition, the Rattlers left 13 men on base as the Rattlers left the bases loaded on three separate occasions.
N.C. A&T (9-18, 5-6 MEAC) finished the contest with game high 16 hits as Jevoanny Tolentino, Dylan Hipp and Brandon Wilkerson finished with three hits each for the Aggies.
In addition, both teams combined for six doubles in the contest with A&T and FAMU both finishing with three doubles each.
Tyler Boon (1-2) picked up the win for A&T as he pitched five and one-third innings, allowing 10 hits, eight earned runs and striking out one in the 20 batters he faced, while Luke Tendler picked up his first save of the season as he pitched one and one-third scoreless innings and striking out three in the five batters he faced.
Former Rattlers pitcher/infielder Tim Jones and now an Aggie pitcher pitched two and one-third innings, allowing one hits and striking out four in the 13 batters he faced.
William Carrasco (0-4) received the loss for FAMU as he gave up 10 hits, eight earned runs and striking out one in the three innings of work. In relief, both Kelvin Singletary and Stephen Dollar made appearances on the mound for FAMU with Singletary recording five innings of work, allowing four hits, one earned run and striking out four in the 24 batters he faced and Dollar facing five batters, allowing two hits, one earned run and striking out one in one inning of work.
A&T garnered a 5-0 lead as they score three runs in the first and two runs in the second.
FAMU plated their first run of the game in the bottom of the second inning as Walker scored a Scott Sheplak ground out to the shortstop, cutting A&T’s lead to 5-1.
The Aggies made the score 8-1 in the top of the fourth inning as Bo McMillian scored on Hipp single to right field, followed by a FAMU wild pitch scoring Tolentino and then Hipp would score on a Kelvin Freeman sacrifice fly to centerfield.
In the FAMU fifth, the Rattlers would score three runs as Bryce Farrar scored on a Bennie Robinson ground out, followed by a Sheplak ground out to the shortstop scoring Grant and then Walker on a A&T wild pitch, cutting the Aggies’ lead to 8-4.
A&T would score three runs in their half of the sixth to increase their lead to 10-4 as the plated two runs in the inning.
FAMU would then answer with three runs in the bottom of the sixth as both Garrett Johnson and Gibbs scored on an A&T infielder’s error, followed by a Farrar ground out to shortstop scoring Weeks, making the score 10-7 in favor of the Aggies.
A&T would score a run in the seventh and a run in the ninth for the 12-7 finale.
For the complete story, visit www.famuathletics.com or www.ncataggies.com
Bethune-Cookman Hands Savannah State 14-2 Run-Rule Rout in Series Finale
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - Bethune-Cookman (14-16, 7-5 MEAC) claimed an early lead and never looked back in Sunday’s series finale with Savannah State (17-11, 7-4 MEAC) winning 14-2 by run-rule at Jackie Robinson Ballpark in MEAC play.
Coming off a two-loss day to open the series on Saturday, the Wildcats went right to work on Savannah State starter Ethan Glass, opening the scoring in the bottom of the first.
Eros Modena took advantage of having Brandon Turner reach on base on balls, making B-CU’s first entry in the scoreboard, launching an RBI triple to the left center wall. Modena came home three pitches later on a David Lee RBI triple to right field. Matt Noble connected on the first pitch he saw, bringing the count to three RBI triples in the frame, plating Modena and granting B-CU a 3-0 lead.
Starting pitcher Ali Simpson held the Tigers without a hit for two innings while the Wildcats built a lead. The southpaw downed four batters with strikeouts across the second and third frames.
Eric Sams reached with two outs on a single to shallow center in the third. Noble made the Tigers pay once again, belting an RBI double off the right field wall. Advancing on a balk, Noble crossed the plate on Chris Biocic’s RBI single up the middle, pushing B-CU to a 5-0 advantage.
Shaun McCarty opened the fourth reaching on a dropped pop-up by the SSU shortstop in shallow left field, but that was just the start of the Tigers’ troubles. McCarty reached second on a groundout and was advanced to third on a base hit bunt by Turner down the right side. Modena brought in his second RBI of the day on a fielder’s choice.
After David Lee’s single put runners on the corners, Noble sent another run home, reaching on an error by the SSU third baseman, and Modena scored on a balk. Biocic again wiped the bases clear in his path with a two-run triple to left, extending the B-CU advantage to 10-0.
Simpson (W, 2-4) battled his way to five effective innings, working out of trouble in the fifth after the Tigers brought in a pair of runs to narrow the B-CU lead to eight runs. The Campbell River, B.C. native tabbed five strikeouts, walking just one Tigers batter.
Facing reliever Sherman Graves, the Wildcats stranded one runner in the fifth, but came back with a patient approach in the sixth. Four consecutive walks granted Biocic an RBI, and McCarty capitalized on the situation with a two-run liner past the second baseman. Josh Johnson batted in the game’s final run, reaching on a fielder’s choice, as the Wildcats assumed a 14-2 lead.
After entering in the sixth, Michael Austin returned for his second frame, sealing the game in a seventh-inning run-ruling after downing SSU’s pinch hitters, striking out one and snagging a line drive fired at head level back to the mound.
Biocic, Noble and McCarty led the 12-hit B-CU outing with 2-for-3 hitting each, with Biocic collecting four RBI to Noble and McCarty’s two apiece. Modena added two RBI as well.
For the complete story, visit www.bcuathletics.com or www.ssuathletics.com