GREENSBORO, NC UNC Greensboro hammered out 17 hits and scored runs in all but two innings as the Spartans defeated cross-town rival North Carolina A&T, 17-10, on Wednesday evening at UNCG Baseball Stadium.
Freshman Rob Gilliam (2-0) picked up the win after scattering four hits and four runs in 3-1/3 innings of relief. Gilliam struck out a game-high five batters.
Jonathan Smith (0-3) took the loss for the Aggies after allowing seven runs on eight hits in two innings on the mound.
Adam Deleo led the Spartans behind the plate and finished 4-for-5 with two RBI. Tim Carrier recorded three hits, while Matt Gaski, Guy Welsh and Ricky Orton each had two hits on the night. Orton tallied three RBI for UNCG.
North Carolina A&T (16-26-0) scored four runs in the top of the first to take an early 4-0 lead. Nelson Santos started things off and sent a one-out home run to right-center. Two batters later, Charlie Gamble hit a RBI single through the left side. Joe McIntyre followed with a two-run homer, giving NC A&T the four-run advantage.
UNCG (22-19-0) immediately answered in the same inning and scored five runs for the one-run advantage. With runners on first and third, Orton sent a one-out blast over the rightfield fence for his third homer of the season. Scott Schneider and Deleo closed out the inning with RBI singles, giving the Spartans the 5-4 lead.
The Spartans plated a run in the second on a sacrifice fly making it 6-4 in favor of UNCG. The Aggies responded with a run in the third on a RBI double from McIntyre to cut the lead to one.
Greg Feltes put UNCG up 7-5 in the third when the junior crushed his fourth roundtripper of the season over the left-center fence. The Spartans got another run in the inning on an Aggie wild pitch.
After the Aggies collected a run in the fourth, the Spartans struck for five runs in the same inning. Orton reached on a single and two batters later, scored on a wild pitch. Deleo sent his third hit of the night through the right side, scoring Feltes. After UNCG scored on another wild pitch, Gaski hit a two-bagger to right and plated two more runs to give the Spartans the 13-6 lead.
A&T catcher Neil Rosser led off the sixth with a home run to leftfield and Patrick Oates hit a two-run roundtripper in the seventh in an effort to close in on the Spartan lead. UNCG, however plated two more runs in the seventh highlighted by a RBI triple from Brandon Harvey.
Carrier collected his third hit of the game in the eighth when he laced a RBI triple to right field to give the Spartans the 16-9 lead. Two batters later, Welsh doubled to right-center to score Carrier for his second RBI of the evening.
The Aggies plated a run in the ninth but could not inch any closer, leaving the score 17-10.
UNCG returns to Southern Conference action when the Spartans travel to Elon for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 pm.
AGATE
Score by Innings R H E
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North Carolina A&T.. 401 101 201 - 10 12 2
UNC Greensboro...... 512 500 22X - 17 17 0
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Pitchers: UNCG Gibson; Gilliam (4); Shelton (7)
Pitchers: NC A&T Smith, Jo; Wilson (3); Smith, J. (4); Rogers (4); Frink (7); Primus (8); Johnson (8)
Win-Rob Gilliam (2-0) Loss-Jonathan Smith (0-3)
- UNCG -
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