GREENSBORO, N.C. - Pinch-runner April Langley scored from third on a wild pitch in the bottom of the seventh inning to give UNC Greensboro a 6-5 win over North Carolina A&T in game one of a doubleheader on Thursday, and freshman Chelsea D'Ambrosio did the same in the sixth inning of game two to put the mercy rule into effect as the Spartans completed the sweep with a 9-1 win.
UNCG (21-22) scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to take a 5-1 lead in game one, but the Aggies (18-22) answered with four in the top of the sixth to make it a tie game. With the score knotted at 5 in the bottom of the seventh, Alex Emeterio led off with her third hit of the game, a single to short. Langley then came in to run for her, and Eileen Horsmon's single to right, coupled with an A&T error, put runners on the corners with no one out.
Pitcher Brittany Wade (0-1) then uncorked a wild pitch with Kaitlin Merkt at the plate, and Langley raced home, just beating catcher Jessie Larson's tag for the walk-off win.
Larson had put A&T up 1-0 in the second with a solo home run to straightaway center, and the Aggies held that lead until the fifth. UNCG's bats finally came roaring to life in the frame, as the Spartans batted around to put five runs on the board.
Katie Stripling's leadoff double was the first of four straight hits to open the inning, and Laura Olenderski's two-run single got UNCG on the board. Brittany Ausley and Emeterio would add RBI hits in the inning, while Emily Akiyama had a sacrifice fly.
The Aggies were down but not out, tying the game the following inning with some timely two-out hitting. Larson got things going with a single up the middle and Channing Statham doubled to the gap in right center to bring her in. A UNCG error allowed prolonged the inning and Bianca Alsobrook made the Spartans pay with a three-run homer off the top of the wall in right center to pull N.C. A&T even.
Emeterio was 3-for-3 with a walk to lead the Spartans at the plate, while Ausley, Horsmon, Olenderski and Heather Robb had two hits each. Larson had two hits to lead the Aggies at the dish.
Amber Harrell (10-10) picked up the win with an inning of one-hit relief. Wade took the loss, allowing an unearned run one four hits in 1 2/3 innings.
UNCG found its offense early in game two, jumping out to a 4-0 lead after two innings. Horsmon and D'Ambrosio had RBI singles in the first to make it 2-0, and the Spartans added a pair of unearned runs in the second on an A&T error and D'Ambrosio's bases-loaded walk.
The Aggies got a run back in the third on pinch-hitter Kelly Aponte's RBI single, but the Spartans blew it open in the fourth on Merkt's three-run homer, a line drive that cleared the wall in left center in a hurry.
Emeterio added an RBI single in the fifth and D'Ambrosio scurried home from third on a wild pitch in the sixth to put the mercy rule into effect and end the game early.
Emeterio was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI in the contest, raising her season average to a career-best .395. The Spartans' 3-6 hitters - Emeterio, Horsmon (1-for-2, two walks, RBI), Merkt (1-for-3, walk, three RBI) and D'Ambrosio (2-for-3, walk, two RBI) - were a combined 6-for-11 with five walks and seven RBI in the game.
While UNCG's offense was firing on all cylinders, Harrell was shutting the Aggies' down, as she allowed just two hits in the contest and struck out 11, one short of her career high. After allowing a leadoff single in the second, she struck out the next three batters.
N.C. A&T used all three pitchers on its roster, with starter Sasha Philpot (8-11) taking the loss after allowing four runs - two earned - on four hits and five walks in two innings.
The Spartans return to Southern Conference play with a crucial three-game set at Furman in Greenville, S.C., this weekend. UNCG and Furman enter the weekend tied for third in the league standings at 8-6 in the SoCon. The top four teams at the end of the season qualify for the league tournament.
AGATE
UNC Greensboro 6, North Carolina A&T 5 (Apr 22, 2010 at Greensboro, N.C.) (Game 1)
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North Carolina A&T.. 010 004 0 - 5 7 1 (18-21)
UNC Greensboro...... 000 050 1 - 6 12 1 (20-22)
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Pitchers: North Carolina A&T - LUPER,Jennifer; WADE,Brittany(5) and LARSON,Jessie. UNC Greensboro - Cory Mattson; Amber Harrell(7) and Eileen Horsmon; Whitney Sirois; Katie Stripling.
Win-Amber Harrell(9-10) Loss-WADE,Brittany(0-1) T-1:47 A-0
HR NCATSB - LARSON,Jessie; ALSOBROOK,Bianca.
Weather: 72 degrees, partly cloudy
WADE,B faced 2 batters in the 7th.
UNC Greensboro 9, North Carolina A&T 1 (Apr 22, 2010 at Greensboro, N.C.) (Game 2)
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North Carolina A&T.. 001 000 - 1 2 1 (18-22)
UNC Greensboro...... 220 311 - 9 9 0 (21-22)
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Pitchers: North Carolina A&T - PHILPOT,Sasha; LUPER,Jennifer(3); WADE,Brittany(6) and LARSON,Jessie. UNC Greensboro - Amber Harrell and Whitney Sirois.
Win-Amber Harrell(10-10) Loss-PHILPOT,Sasha(8-11) T-1:43 A-74
HR UNCG - Kaitlin Merkt (7).
Weather: 74 degrees, partly cloudy
- UNCG -
