Diamond 'Dogs Strong In 7-2 Win Over North Carolina A&T
May 02, 2007 | Baseball
BOILING SPRINGS, N.C. – Sophomore Daniel Cooke went 2-for-2
with a triple and two runs scored Wednesday, pacing Gardner-Webb's
7-2 win over North Carolina A&T at Varsity Field.
The game was the final pre-exam contest for Gardner-Webb (21-28),
which won for the seventh time in its last eight games.
The Bulldogs went on top 2-0 in the second inning, as Nate McDonald
walked, stole second and scored on Matt Rizzuto's fourth triple of
the season. Joey Testa then drove in Rizzuto with a single down the
line in left before Aggie starter Jonathan Smith (0-4) could retire
the side.
Gardner-Webb loaded the bases with consecutive walks to Josh
Drewery, Cooke and Jeremiah Lokken in the third and effectively put
the game out of reach. An RBI single by Nate McDonald pushed GWU's
lead to 3-0, and a two-run single by Jay McConnell drove in both
Cooke and Lokken for a 5-0 lead.
Solo home runs by Jeremy Jones in the fourth and C.J. Beatty in the
sixth made up all the scoring for North Carolina A&T
(17-29).
Jon Ahearn poked an RBI single over the infield in the sixth to
give Gardner-Webb a 6-2 lead and McConnell followed Cooke's triple
in the seventh with a sacrifice fly for the final margin.
Bulldog starter Ben Campbell (6-4) was sharp, working 5.0 scheduled
innings and allowing just one run on three hits (three strikeouts).
Jonathon Ban came on to work the final four innings and pick up his
second save of the season, allowing just one hit – Beatty's
solo homerun to lead off the sixth.
Cooke (2-for-2, 3B, two BB), McConnell (2-for-3, run, three RBI),
Testa (2-for-4, RBI) and Ahearn (2-for-5, RBI) combined to collect
eight of Gardner-Webb's 10 hits on the afternoon. MacDonald and
Rizzuto had the other two safeties.
A&T managed just four hits on the day, with Jones (1-for-3, HR,
RBI) and Beatty (1-for-3, HR, RBI) the only men to get past first
base.
Smith allowed seven hits and five earned runs in 5.0 innings.
Marquis Frink (2.0 innings, two runs) and Jody Calloway (1.0
inning, 0 runs) finished out the game for the Aggies.
Gardner-Webb will break for exams until next Thursday, when the
Diamond ‘Dogs host A-Sun foe Mercer for a three-game series.
The opener of that series is set for 4:30 pm ET on Varsity
Field.
| GAME BOX: GWU 7, N.C. A&T 2 |
