Box Score

GREENSBORO, North Carolina - From the first inning the North Carolina A&T State Aggies hammered away at the Hawks pitchers. Maryland Eastern Shore tried their best to keep up but found themselves on the losing end of a 17-9 decision. The loss drops Maryland Eastern Shore to 0-4, while North Carolina A&T improved to 2-3.

The Hawks' bats were able to find some success against the Aggie pitching. Junior Tyler Friis (Appleton, Wisconsin) collected three hits in five tries with a run scored, and senior Jordan Martin (Atlanta, Georgia) drove in three with a two RBI single in the sixth and a bases loaded walk in the eighth. Fellow senior Jordan Wesley (Mitchellville, Maryland) went 1-for-2 with two runs scored and an RBI, reaching base three out of five times. Sophomore Ryan Rotondo (Warwick, Rhode Island) and junior Jamison Trower (Chestefield, Virginia) also enjoyed multi-hit games.

North Carolina A&T had the bats working too. The Aggies sped out to a 6-2 lead by the end of the second inning, and then scored three more in the fourth inning. When Maryland Eastern Shore scored three times in the sixth to cut the deficit back to four, A&T responded with an eight run outburst in the bottom half of the inning to put the game away.

For the Aggies, Adan Ordonez went a perfect 4-for-4 with seven RBI's, three runs scored, and blasted his first home run of the season. Myles Sowell and Greg White also had perfect days at the plate, going 5-for-5 and 4-for-4, respectively.

Junior starter Chris Melrath (Rising Sun, Maryland) was handed the loss, making him 0-2 on the season. Freshman Andre Bell (Detroit, Michigan) made his collegiate debut, closing out the last 2 2/3 innings for the Hawks.

Maryland Eastern Shore will have two more games this weekend against North Carolina A&T State. Game two of the series is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. Saturday.