GAME 1
SCORE	North Carolina A&T 4 – Niagara 3
RECORDS	North Carolina A&T (1-0) – Niagara (0-1)
LOCATION	War Memorial Stadium

 
GREENSBORO, N.C. – The Purple Eagles dropped a pair of games to the North Carolina A&T Aggies to open the season on Friday.

Game Recap

• In their first game of the season, the Purple Eagles got on the board first. In the top of the second, freshman Josh Marchese singled to right field to score fellow freshman Max Giordano to put Niagara in the lead, 1-0.
• In the top of the fifth frame, an RBI single from Giordano gave the Purple Eagles a 2-0 lead over the Aggies.
• North Carolina A&T halved NU's lead, 2-1, in the bottom of the seventh with a sac fly.
• A solo homerun to left field from Joseph Tevlin in the top of the eighth put the Purple Eagles back up by two runs, 3-1.
• In the bottom of the ninth inning, an RBI single put the Aggies down by only one run, 3-2, and a ground-out scored one run and advanced two runners, tying the score, 3-3. A throwing error from Niagara third baseman Michael Gabriele allowed a runner to reach base and send home the game-winning run for the Aggies.

Eagle's Eye On…

• Giordano had a strong collegiate debut for the Purple Eagles. He led the team with three hits, while also scoring one run and batting in one run.
• Matthew Brash had a phenomenal outing for the Purple Eagles. Brash, who earned the start on the mound, fanned 11 batters in 7.0 inning pitched. He allowed just four hits and one earned run.
• Gabriele, Tevlin and Benny Serrano each had two hits and Gabriele and Serrano each had one extra-base hit.
• Marchese and Tevlin each added one RBI for NU and Darian Blanks had one stolen base.
• Tyler Howard (0-1), who relieved Brash in the eighth inning, took the loss. He struck out three batters in 1.2 innings pitched.
• Niagara outhit the Aggies, 12-7.

 

GAME 2
SCORE	North Carolina A&T 6 – Niagara 2
RECORDS	North Carolina A&T (2-0) – Niagara (0-2)
LOCATION	War Memorial Stadium

 
Game Recap

• The Aggies took an early lead in game two, jumping ahead of the Purple Eagles 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning after a two-RBI double.
• With bases loaded in the top of the first, Serrano reached base on a fielding error, sending Bailey home to leave Niagara trailing narrowly, 2-1.
• North Carolina A&T, however, tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the third frame to take a 5-2 lead over Niagara.
• Niagara scored again in the top of fourth inning; Bailey singled through the left side to score Darian Blanks and cut the Aggies' lead, 5-2.
• The Aggies added on one more run in the bottom of the fourth and, though Niagara held North Carolina A&T scoreless for the remainder of the game, the Purple Eagles were not able to overcome the Aggies' lead.

Eagle's Eye On…

• Bailey and Blanks each had one hit and Bailey also added one RBI.
• Five different pitchers saw action for Niagara. Ben Erwin (0-1) took the loss. He struck out three batters and allowed four earned runs in 3.0 innings pitched. Kyle Smyth, Jacob Bruning, Tommy Bednarski and Cal Theal also made appearances on the mound.

Up Next

• The Purple Eagles close out their series at North Carolina A&T on Saturday, Feb. 16. First pitch is slated for 3:00 p.m.

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