GREENSBORO, NC UNC Greensboro jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and blew the game open with six runs in the sixth inning as the Spartans defeated North Carolina A&T, 13-4, on Tuesday night at NewBridge Bank Park, home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
UNCG starter Matt Parish allowed just three runs in the five innings of work to pick up the win for the Spartans (8-13) and reliever Zach Furl pitched four innings of relief to pick up his first save of the season.
North Carolina A&T pitcher Chris Watson was credited with his first loss of the season for the Aggies (7-16) after giving up seven runs in five innings.
The Spartan bats came out blazing in the bottom of the first as they pushed three runs across the plate. Pedro Leon and Corey Overholtzer started with back-to-back singles to put runners on first and second. Ray Quinones delivered another single, which scored Leon and moved Overholtzer to third. Ed Jayjack kept the momentum going as he delivered a single to center to score Overholtzer and push Quinones to third. Jacob Golliday was up next and blasted a ball to dead center that looked like it would make the score 5-0, but Aggie center fielder Xavier Macklin made the play of the evening. He climbed the wall and reached over to snag the ball as it was going over the wall, but Quinones was able to tag up and score on the play.
UNCG added another run in the second inning after Kris Richards led off the inning with a single and would later score on a sacrifice fly by Ray Quinones.
The Aggies responded in the top of the third as CJ Beatty reached on a single and Nick Rogers hit a towering shot to left field to narrow the Spartan lead to 4-2.
After A&T scored one in the fourth to make the Spartan lead just 4-3, UNCG responded with a run of its own. Golliday led off the fifth inning with a walk and would score late in the inning on a Richards single.
Holding on to a 5-3 lead, UNCG blew open the game with six runs by putting ten players to the plate in the sixth inning. Overholtzer led off the inning with a walk and moved to second after Ray Quinones was hit by a pitch. Jayjack followed with a single to score Overholtzer. After Golliday moved Quinones and Jayjack to second and third respectively on a sacrifice bunt, Michael Wall walked to load the bases. After a Spartan strike out, Richards drew a walk to score Quinones. Trevor Edwards hit was looked to be an inning ending groundout, but an error by the Aggie second baseman allowed Jayjack and Wall to score. Leon the delivered a single to center field to score Richards and Edwards to make the score 11-3.
The Spartans would go on to score one more run in the seventh and eighth inning to make the final score 13-4.
UNCG will turn around and head to Wake Forest on Wednesday for the final midweek game this week. The Spartans and Demon Deacons will play at 6 p.m. at the Wake Forest Baseball Park.
AGATE
UNC Greensboro 13, North Carolina A&T 4
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North Carolina A&T... 002 100 010 - 4 11 2 (7-16)
UNC Greensboro...... 310 016 11X - 13 11 1 (8-13)
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Pitchers: UNC Greensboro Matt Parish. North Carolina A&T Chris Watson, Garrett Braun, Ruben Torrellas.
Win- Matt Parish (2-1) Save- Zach Furl (1) Loss- (1-1) T-2:42 A-564
HR North Carolina A&T: Nick Rogers (5)
- UNCG -
