Box Score DURHAM, N.C. – North Carolina Central University rallied to take the lead late after North Carolina A&T State University scored four runs in the first inning, but the Aggies reclaimed the lead late to keep the Eagles out of the conference tournament with a 6-5 victory Saturday afternoon at the Durham Athletic Park.

NCCU (19-36) finishes 12-12 in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with the same division record as Savannah State (20-31, 12-12 MEAC), but the Tigers take the final spot to the playoffs with a 5-1 head-to-head record over the Eagles.

NC A&T (10-36, 7-17 MEAC) put together four runs in the top of the first inning with help from a two-RBI single from Myles Sowell (Greensboro, N.C.).  The other two runs were scored without the benefit of a hit as one batter was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and the second one came in on a wild pitch.

From there the Eagles kept the Aggies of the board for the next six innings while mounting a rally of their own.  NCCU manufactured its first run of the game in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice bunt and the first of five errors committed by the Aggies, which allowed an Eagle to score and make the score 4-1.

The Eagles kept chipping away at the deficit by bunting runners over and benefiting from more Aggie errors in the bottom of the sixth that put two runs on the board.  NCCU jumped ahead in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Eric Kimber (Greensboro, N.C.) and Carlos Ortiz (Cleveland, Ohio) scoring on a wild pitch to vault the Eagles into the lead 5-4 after seven innings.

NC A&T then tied the game in the top of the eighth after squeezing home a run on a bunt, and an RBI single from Brandon Wilkerson (Greensboro, N.C.) put the Aggies in front for the final time.

NCCU finishes the year in fourth place of the Southern Division of the MEAC.