The Grambling State Tiger baseball team stepped into the winner’s column for the first time this season as they belted out 19 hits in a 16-4 non-conference win over Jarvis Christian College on Tuesday.
Grambling took an early 2-0 lead after two innings of play on Brent Smith’s RBI single in the first and Steven Kletke’s solo homer in the second. A three-run third inning moved Jarvis Christian ahead 3-2 but GSU regained a 5-3 lead in the fourth after Kletke’s second RBI of the afternoon and Milt Barney’s two-run homer.
JCC narrowed the gap to 5-4 after five-and-a-half innings of play but Grambling remained patient and went to work offensively in the bottom of the seventh as they broke the game open with a 10-run frame.
Manny Kumar, Smith and Kletke led Grambling with three hits each while Kletke and Arthur Mazierski drove in three RBIs apiece. Sophomore Brian Sinnette captured the win on the mound with five strikeouts in eight innings of action.
Grambling begins SWAC play this weekend against Texas Southern with a 1 p.m. doubleheader in Grambling on Saturday, March 7.
