Senior Evan Gates posted two strikeouts in a scoreless ninth as he earned the win in the Aggies come-from-behind win over Elon.
The North Carolina A&T defeated the Elon Phoenix, 8-7, in walk-off fashion inside War Memorial Stadium on Friday evening in non-conference baseball.
The Aggies (5-8) overcame a 7-2 deficit to win.
By the time the Aggies reached their half of the ninth, they had dwindled the Phoenix lead to 7-6. They then proceeded to load the bases with a single from senior Dustin Baber before sophomore Cameran Brantley reached on an error by Elon shortstop Carlos Marte and Justin Williams walked with two outs.
Sophomore Grant Tilley, who entered the game in the seventh for freshman Trevor Sheehan, ripped a walk-off, two-out, two-run RBI double down the left field line that brought around the tying and game-winning run in Baber and Brantley, giving the Aggies their second home victory of the season.
“Grant is a good player,” said A&T coach Ben Hall. “We’ve got guys that are ready for opportunities. We tell guys when you’re not in the lineup to be ready to go. I felt like we needed to make a change. The freshman was struggling a little bit in his at-bats, and Grant came in there ready to go and came up big.”
Elon scored seven runs over the first three innings, including a three-run shot to right field by Willie Haven in the third inning to give the Phoenix a 7-2 advantage. Those were the last runs Elon scored the rest of the night.
After a rough start, senior right-handed pitcher Michael Johnson held the Phoenix scoreless in the fourth and fifth innings. Hall then turned the game over to his bullpen, and they stole the show. Freshmen Ian Cawthorne and Daniel Carter and senior Leon Davidson pitched a scoreless inning apiece.
Senior closer Evan Gates (2-0) blanked the Phoenix in the top of the ninth with two strikeouts to eventually earn the win.
“Mike was struggling early in the game and obviously didn’t have his best stuff today,” Hall said. “They were hitting him pretty hard, but for him to give us two zeros (scoreless fourth and fifth innings) was huge. Those fifth through seventh innings have really been hurting us in some of our losses this year. For Ian Cawthorne to come in and throw a clean inning and Daniel Carter to come in and pitch clean, that kept the opportunity there for us to come back.”
A&T certainly took advantage of that opportunity. Junior outfielder Justin Rodriguez went deep in the third inning for his team-leading fourth home run of the year. The Aggies move to 5-2 in games where they hit a home run.
The Aggies then posted three runs in the fifth as Rodriguez hit an RBI single with the bases loaded to score senior Ryne Stanley, who reached on a bunt single. Justin Williams followed with a two-run RBI single to left to score sophomore Cameran Brantley who singled, and senior Dustin Baber, who reached on a fielder’s choice. Williams’ single cut the lead to 7-6.
“We kept giving ourselves opportunities,” said Hall. “We kept getting guys on base and putting pressure on them. We hit the ball hard at (shortstop), and they made the mistake, and then we were able to take advantage when the pitcher missed his spot.”
Rodriguez turned in a 2-for-3 line, including the home run and a team-high three RBI, a run scored and a base on balls. He was one of four Aggies with a multi-hit game, joined by Baber (3-for-5), Brantley (2-for-4) and freshman Alex Reyna (3-for-4). The Aggies combined for 14 hits, tying a season-high they set on Feb. 28, in an 11-3 win over App State.
Alex Iadisernia led the Phoenix with a 3-for-4 day that included an RBI and two runs scored. Ben Simon (0-1) took the loss.