GREENSBORO, N.C. - UNC Greensboro scored at least one run in six of the eight innings they batted en route to a 12-5 win over cross-town rival North Carolina A&T on Wednesday evening at NewBridge Bank Park, home of the Greensboro Grasshoppers.
Starter Matt Parish pitched six innings for the Spartans (13-12) to pick up the win, while allowing just one run on six hits. Aggie starter Nick Oelker picked up the loss after giving up seven runs on eight hits in five innings of work.
Corey Overholtzer led the Spartans at the plate by going 2-4 with four RBI and two runs scored. Ray Quinones and Kris Richards also had nice days as they each picked up a pair of hits and had two RBI.
Xavier Macklin went 3-4 at the dish with three RBI and two runs scored to lead the Aggies (9-14) at the plate.
The Spartans got on the board first as they pushed two runs across the plate in the bottom of the first. Harry Slade led off with a walk before moving over to second on a sacrifice bunt by Drew Gehringer. Overholtzer then doubles to center field to allow Slade to score and put UNCG ahead, 1-0.
Overholtzer scored a batter later as Quinones followed with a single up the middle to give the Spartans a 2-0 advantage after one inning of play.
The Aggies responded though in the top of the second when James Howard delivered a double to right center that allowed Mark Nales to score from first and make it a 2-1 game.
The Spartans put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the third to extend their lead to 4-1. After the first two batters were retired, Quinones took a 1-0 pitch over the wall in left center for his third home run of the season. Ed Jayjack followed with a single through the right side before Lloyd Enzor hit a triple off the wall in right center to score Jayjack.
UNCG continued to pour it on in the bottom of the fourth as the Spartans put up a three spot to make it a 7-1 ballgame. Eric Brindle led off with a single to the shortstop in the hole, but the Aggies were able to retire the next two batters. Gehringer then doubled to right center to put runners on second and third. Overholtzer followed by taking the first pitch he saw deep to right center for the third time this season for his third home run this year.
In the sixth inning, Gehringer led off with a single to center fielder before Overholtzer walked. After a pair of Spartan outs, Enzor drew a five-pitch walk before Chris Barker did the same to walk home Gehringer from third and make it an 8-1 contest.
Howard led off the top of the seventh for the Aggies with a single and George Hines walked to put Macklin at the plate with two outs. Macklin hit a towering shot over the batter's eye in center field for his team-leading seventh home run of the season to pull the Aggies within, 8-4.
That was as close as A&T would get the rest of the evening as the Spartans continued to push runs across the plate in the seventh and eighth inning. Richards extended his hitting streak to a team-high seven games in the bottom of the seventh as he led off with a single to center field.
Richards was out though on the next play as Slade reached on a fielder's choice and advanced to second on a throwing error. Gehringer then reached on another Aggie error to put runners on the corners. After a fly out and a stolen base by Gehringer, Slade scored on a passed ball and Gehringer moved up to third on the play.
Quinones then drew a walk for the Spartans, but was caught leaning off first and was put in a rundown. Quinones made a smart play though by staying in the rundown long enough for Gehringer to score from third and give UNCG a 10-4 lead before Quinones was tagged for the third out.
Enzor added a double in the eighth inning and Barker singled to put runners on second and third before Richards slapped a single through the left side of the infield to score those two runners and put the Spartans ahead, 12-4.
The Aggies got a two-out RBI double from Marquis Riley to score one run in the top of the ninth to make the final score, 12-5.
The Spartans will return to action this weekend as they host backyard-rival Elon for a three-game series beginning Friday at 7 p.m.
AGATE
UNC Greensboro 12, North Carolina A&T 5
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North Carolina A&T.. 010 000 301 - 5 11 3 (9-14)
UNC Greensboro...... 202 301 22X - 12 13 1 (13-12)
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Pitchers: North Carolina A&T - OELKER,Nick; MUSGRAVE,Nick(6); SMITH,Jonathan(6); BRAUN,Garrett(7) and RIVENBARK,Lester. UNC Greensboro - Matt Parish; Tyler Hollstegge(7); Wes McBride(7); Colby Hyatt(9) and Ed Jayjack.
Win-Matt Parish (1-1) Loss-OELKER,Nick (1-3) T-2:52 A-664
HR NCATBB - MACKLIN,Xavier.
HR UNCG - Corey Overholtzer; Ray Quinones.
Weather: 73 and clear skies
- UNCG -
