GREENSBORO, N.C. – The North Carolina Central University baseball program was defeated in the opening game of the series with North Carolina A&T, as the Aggies won 12-1 in seven innings on Friday, April 30 at War Memorial Stadium.
 
NCAT (16-27, 11-10 MEAC) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second on an RBI double by Camden Williamson (Greensboro, N.C.), and Ryne Stanley (High Point, N.C.) made it a 2-0 advantage after a leadoff solo home run in the bottom of the third.  The Aggies followed Stanley to score a total of three runs in the bottom of the first as Justin Rodriguez (Farmingdale, N.Y.) hit a two-RBI double to send the hosts ahead, 4-0.
 
Nick Fajardo (Durham, N.C.) broke up Cole Parks' (Huntersville, N.C.) no-hit bid with a two-out single in the top of the fifth, and NCCU (16-16, 8-9 MEAC) were able to build on that to get its first run of the game after an RBI single by Kokko Figueiredo (Fortuna, Calif.).
 
The Aggies responded quickly and scored three runs on a pair of homers.  Justin Williams (Charlotte, N.C.) hit a two-run homer to center, and Williamson scored himself on a home run to right center to make the score 7-1, in favor of the home team.
 
The Aggies kept the momentum in their corner, and batted around to score five in the bottom of the sixth to take a 12-1 lead.  Dustin Baber (Babson Park, Fla.) hit a two-run home run in the inning to mark the fourth home run of the game for NCAT.
 
Parks was able to finish the job in the top of the seventh as the Aggies ended the game prematurely with a 12-1 victory.  Parks walked five, but allowed just two hits and one earned run with six strikeouts.
 
The series will continue with a doubleheader on Saturday, May 1 that will begin at 1:00 p.m, and both games will be broadcast live on the NCCU Sports Network.