GREENSBORO, N.C. – North Carolina Central University went right to the wire in both games of the doubleheader with rival North Carolina A&T, but the Aggies were able to take both games in walkoffs, 8-7 and 4-3 on Friday, April 14 at War Memorial Stadium.
 
Game One:
The first game of the series played the way a rivalry series usually does, tightly contested through all nine innings.  NCCU (16-20, 7-7 MEAC) and NC A&T (19-14, 9-5 MEAC) traded runs in the first two innings with the Aggies scoring one in the first frame before Bryant Battle (Greenville, N.C.) tied the game in the top of the second with a single to left.
 
NC A&T regained the lead in the bottom of the second with a three-run inning to go ahead 4-1.  From there, NCCU steadily chipped away at the deficit with an RBI single from Corey Joyce (Lexington, N.C.) in the third, before the Eagles broke out for four runs in the fourth.
 
Andrew Valichka (Pedricktown, N.J.) started the scoring with an RBI double to right, before being brought home on a double from Carter Williams (Brown Summit, N.C.) in the very next at bat.  The big blow of the inning came from Joyce who laced a two-RBI triple down the left field line to push the Eagles in front 7-4.
 
Valichka finished game one a homer shy of the cycle, going 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored for the Eagles.
 
Devin Sweet (Greensboro, N.C.) kept the Aggies quiet for the middle innings from the third to the seventh, by going 14 batters without allowing a baserunner, setting down seven in a row before exiting the game.
 
The Aggies started turning the tide after that by scoring two in the seventh to cut the lead to one, before Kyle Clary (Lakewood, Calif.) tied the game on a leadoff solo homer to left in the bottom of the eighth.  NC A&T went on to load the bases with two outs in the ninth, and Clary came through once again with the winning hit on a single to right field.
 
Game Two:
The second game was just as tight as the first, with NC A&T again scoring first during its first turn at bat on a single that kicked off the bag at first base.  NCCU struck back to take the lead with a pair of runs in the top of the second, on a sacrifice fly from Jake Raby (Granite Falls, N.C.) and an error.
 
NC A&T scored a run to level the game in the bottom of the second on another hit that bounced off a base, this time down the third base line to move the score to 2-2.
 
Evan Holland (Erial, N.J.) helped create some separation for the Eagles by leading off the fourth with a single before getting to third on a passed ball and a stolen base.  He was brought home on a sacrifice fly by Conrad Kovalcik (Detroit, Mich.) and NCCU held its slim lead all the way into the seventh.
 
The Aggies held tough and gutted out a pair of two out singles to tie the game before winning on a balk with a runner on third.

Game three of the series will be played on Saturday, April 15 at War Memorial Stadium with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 p.m.