The 2014 season began last weekend with a mixed bag of results of Southwestern Athletic Conference teams.
BALL THREE
The defending 2013 conference champion Jackson State went 3-1, including picking up a pair of wins against Texas Southern.
Jackson State was led by solid pitching from Brandon Gregory, who completed 62/3 innings, struck out four and only surrendered one walk in a 4-2 opening day win over Texas Southern.
In three games versus Texas Southern and South Dakota State, JSU starters Gregory, Desmond Russell and Alexander Juday allowed just five earned runs in 182/3 innings over four games.
Southern, who finished the weekend 2-1 with back-to-back 7-5 wins over Grambling State, got solid production at the plate from All-SWAC outfielder D.J. Williams. In three games, Williams slugged .818, tallied four RBI and hit. 636, including a 4-for-4 performance in the season opener.
BALL TWO
Outside of Southern’s impressive start, the rest of the SWAC West went a combined 1-13 in 16 contests with the lone win coming from Texas Southern beating South Dakota State 1-0 on Saturday.
BALL ONE
In being swept 3-0 by Dallas Baptist, Mississippi Valley State was outscored 52-5 and gave up an average of 17.3 runs per game in the process.
SWAC PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Southern’s D.J. Williams
