Aggies Sweep Eagles

A&T first base player Kimberley Brunson, seen here avoiding the home plate tag against the N.C. Central Eagles, led the Aggies in hits, going 3-for-3 in Game 1 on Saturday, April 20. Photo by Kevin Dorsey

North Carolina A&T’s softball team completed the sweep of Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference arch-rival North Carolina Central at the Lady Aggies Softball Complex on Saturday, 3-2 and 8-5 in doubleheader action. The Aggies close out their home slate 12-9 this season.

The Aggies’ two Senior Day honorees, Janika May and Alejandra Barcenas, both scored runs. Barcenas continued her presence from the field, assisting during crucial times throughout the day. Kimberly Brunson had an outstanding day at the plate, going for a combined five hits and two RBIs.

But North Carolina Central made N.C. A&T’s earning of the MEAC Tournament bid exciting in Game 1. A day after the Aggies had to rally to beat the Eagles in the seventh inning with a walk-off single, Saturday’s Game 1 was tied at two going into the Aggies’ half of the sixth. Barcenas was walked and advanced to third on a throwing error that allowed Raven Gray to go to second. Zadaisha Waddell’s RBI ground out scored Barcenas to put the Aggies ahead 3-2 before the Eagles made things real interesting in the seventh.

Markell Wylie earned an infield single and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. Wylie then tried to tie the game at three when Jenny Tracy singled to center. But Gray came up throwing from her center field position and threw out Wylie at the plate to preserve the Aggies lead. Tracy advanced to second on the throw to home and then moved to third on a passed ball, but Waddell got London Booker to ground out to end the game and NCCU’s hopes of advancing to the conference tournament.

Three hits in the second inning of Game 1 put the Aggies on the board. Mohagony Headen’s double followed by Brunson’s single to center put runners on base, but a back-and-forth play got Headen out as she tried to score. Brunson would score on an RBI single from Lauren Dunlow. The Aggies would add to the lead in the fourth in part due to Brunson’s leadoff double to left field. Consecutive hits loaded the bases for Barcenas who was walked by Dominique Wilson, forcing in a run to give the Aggies a 2-1 lead. The Eagles tied the game in the fifth before the exciting finish.

The Aggies had a high-scoring Game 2, with three players producing multiple hits. N.C. A&T entered the third, the highest scoring inning of the game ahead 1-0. An RBI double from Nobles scored the first run of the inning, followed shortly thereafter by a two-run RBI single from Brunson. Zadia Davis stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and singled to centerfield, scoring two more to close the inning with a 6-0 N.C. A&T lead. The Aggies tacked on two more runs in the fourth on back-to-back hits to lead off the inning. A double to left field from Waddell scored Gray and an error at third base ultimately scored Shi-Anne Campbell for an 8-0 Aggies’ lead.

On the brink of having the game end because of the 8-run lead rule after five, the Eagles did manage to score five runs in their half of the fifth. Headen managed to keep things together to go on and improve to 7-3 on the season after a 13-strikeout performance.

The three-game series sweep puts the Aggies at 17-28 overall and 6-9 in conference competition.