The N.C. A&T baseball team could not find their rhythm offensively on Sunday afternoon at War Memorial Stadium, as the Marshall Thundering Herd dominate the doubleheader to win the series. The Herd won the first game 16-3 and defeated the Aggies 3-0 in the second.

In the first game, Marshall put in a strong showing behind starter Aaron Blair, who kept the Aggies hitless until the sixth inning. The Herd took a 3-0 lead in the fourth on an RBI single by Stafford. But Marshall opened up the game with a five-run sixth inning off reliever Jamal Clark to take an 8-0 lead.

“They had a very good pitcher on the mound. We had a tough time with him. He was throwing three, four pitches for strikes and mixing it up and keeping us off balance for a majority of the game,” said A&T head coach Joel Sanchez of Blair.

“We didn’t play well overall. We kept it together, and game two came out again and it turned into a pitcher’s duel,” said Sanchez.

A&T senior Brent Moore and Marshall’s Wayland Moore, who were both lefties, came out in control in Game 2.

A&T’s Moore kept the Herd off the board in the first five innings, sitting nine straight batters starting in the third inning. Marshall’s Moore came away with the edge, retiring the first 13 batters he faced.

Aggie designated hitter junior Cameron Jergens broke up the no-hit bid, the second on the day for the Herd, with a single to right field in the fifth inning.

The Herd were surging in the top of the sixth, getting consecutive singles with two out. But Moore got designated hitter Alfredo Brito to go down swinging to get out of the frame. But he had trouble getting out of the seventh inning squeaky clean.

Marshall scored a run on an RBI double to center field by second baseman Andrew Dundon. With two on and one out, a two-RBI double to right by Gray Stafford made it a 3-0 contest.

“They finally broke through and got one key hit. We thought we were going to get out of the jam with one run, but it kind of just floated over our right fielder’s head,” said Sanchez. “They were three runs that held up. We couldn’t put together a string of hits to get back into the game,” he added.

The Aggies looked to make a comeback in the eighth inning. Jergens and right fielder Reggie Washington hit back-to-back singles to get the offense started. James Harris, who entered the game in the top of the inning to play third, hit a sac bunt to advance both runners into scoring position. But Herd reliever Kolin Stanley struck out the next two batters to end the rally.

Reliever Tyler Boone, who entered the game in the seventh, retired the Herd in order in the ninth to keep A&T within striking distance. Closer Matt Margaritonda came in for the save attempt. With two out, second baseman Luke Tendler walked to keep the A&T hopes alive. But first baseman Kelvin Freeman grounded out on his way to second to end the game.

“Boone was good again in the second game, and gave us a chance to get back in it,” Sanchez said. “We didn’t give him any run support, and we didn’t play the best defensive game behind him either. Hopefully we can give him better run support in the next time out.”

• Paul Smith, Contributor