Baseball Tournament Recaps: Day 4
SWAC.org
Alabama State 4 Prairie View A&M 2
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Alabama State defeated Prairie View A&M 4-2 in a contest that needed to e finished on Saturday. The Hornets move on with the win to face Grambling State in the semifinals. Prairie View A&M is eliminated with the loss.
The Hornets took the lead in the first inning. Gustavo Rios singled up the middle, which Allowed to Yamil Pagan to score to make the score 1-0.
In the third, Prairie View A&M took the lead when Avery Williams singled through the left side, to drive in two runs, giving the Panthers the 2-1 lead.
Alabama State tied the contest in the fifth. Ray Hernandez hit a solo home run to left field, to even the score at 2-2.
The Hornets took the lead in the bottom of the eighth. Phillips hit an RBI double to make the score 3-2. After that run scored, the game was then postponed due to weather with Alabama State having a 3-2 lead.
Once the contest resumed Saturday morning, Christopher DeGuzman knocked in an RBI single through the left side to drive in a run, and make the score 4-2.
The Hornets were able to hang on in the bottom of the ninth, for the two-run win.
Four Hornets (Hernandez, Rios, Phillips and DeGuzman) each contributed an RBI in the win.
Williams finished the game one for four with two RBIs in the loss for the Panthers.
Texas Southern 10 Jackson State 9 (10 Innings)
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Texas Southern defeated Jackson State in dramatic fashion in a game that required extra innings, to advance to the 2018 Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball championship game.
OJ Oloruntimilehen was two for four with four RBIs and one run scored to pace Texas Southern offensively.
Lamar Briggs was one for five with one run scored and three RBIs for Jackson State
Texas Southern took the early lead, scoring three runs in the first inning. Jose Camacho doubled to right center to drive in the first run of the contest. Harold LeBlanc later singled to center field, to drive in two more runs, making the score 3-0 early.
Jackson State got to within one in the second. Jesus Santana doubled to center field go get Jackson State on the board. Justin Warner added a RBI single to center, to make the score 3-2.
In the third, Oloruntimilehin belted a two run home run to left field, to extend Texas Southern’ s lead to 5-2. Blake Hicks then hit a solo home run to left field, to give the Tigers back-to-back homer, to give Texas Southern a 6-2 lead after three.
Jackson State evened the score in the fourth. Tyler Culpepper hit a RBI single up the middle to drive in a run. Lamar Briggs then doubled to left field, to bring in two more runs, to make the score 6-5. In the next at bat, Wesley Reyes singled up the middle, to even the score at 6-6 after four.
Jackson State took the lead in the sixth. Briggs hit a sacrifice fly to center field, which allowed Warner to score, giving Jackson State the 7-6 advantage.
Texas Southern took the lead in the seventh, Oloruntimilehin knocked a double to the left field wall, which allowed two runs to score, giving the Tigers the 8-7 advantage heading to the eighth inning.
In the top of the ninth, Jackson State tied the score when Dezmond Chumley two-run home run to left center, which gave JKST the 9-8 lead.
In the bottom of the ninth, Christian Sanchez hit a double down the right field line, to put the tying runner at second. After a single moved the runner to third, Keanu Van Kuren hit a sacrifice fly, which allowed the lead runner to score, tying the contest at 9-9 and forcing extra innings.
Christian Suarez was able to retire the Jackson State side in the top of the tenth, setting up Texas Southern for a chance to win the game in the bottom of the tenth.
After the first two Texas Southern Batters were hit by pitches to put two base runners on, Ricky Urbano advanced to third on a Kamren Dukes ground out. Victor Cruz hit a sacrifice fly, which allowed a run allowed Urbano to score, to give the Tigers the walk-off victory.
The defending champions are making their fourth straight appearance in the championship game and will look to win its second title in three seasons Sunday.
Alabama State 5 Grambling State 1
Grambling State 5 Alabama State 1 (IF Game)
NEW ORLEANS, La. – Grambling State won the if necessary game, 5-1 after dropping the first semifinal game, to advance to 2018 SWAC Baseball Tournament Championship game. T
Alabama State took the early lead in game one, in the second inning. Hunter Phillips doubled to left center, to give the Hornets a 1-0 lead.
Anthony Hernandez went 8.0 innings allowing just one run on eight hits, and striking out seven in the win.
Ray Hernandez was two for three from the plate for Alabama State.
Grambling State tied the score in the top of the third. Marshwan Taylor hit an RBI single to right field, which evened the score at 1-1.
Alabama State extended that lead in the third. Yamil Pagan scored from second on a Grambling State error. Gustavo Rios then knocked in a RBI double, which made the score 3-1 in favor of the Hornets.
Alabama State added two insurance runs late. Scoring one run on a sacrifice fly and the other on a Christopher DeGuzman singled to drive in one run, to make the score 5-1 and hold as the final, to force the ‘if’ game where the winner advanced to the title game.
In the if necessary Grambling State took the early lead. Issiah Torres hit a two run home run to break the ice and give the Tigers the lead. After a pitching change from Alabama State, Ace Felder hit a RBI single, giving GSU a 3-0 advantage after three.
In the sixth, Rafael Ramirez hit a solo homer down the left field line, to increase Grambling State’s lead to 4-0.
Alabama State got on the board in the sixth. Hunter Phillips hit a sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Cage Cox to score, which made it a 4-1 contest.
The Tigers added a run in the top of the eighth. Torres reached on a dropped fly ball, which allowed a run to score making the score 5-1 in favor of Grambling State.
Grambling State was able to hold on in the ninth, to advance to the championship game.