MONTGOMERY, Ala. – After holding a 5-1 lead through the sixth inning, Florida Memorial University had to stave off a late rally attempt by Talladega College before earning a 5-4 victory Wednesday afternoon in the opening round of the 2022 Tyson Foods Black College World Series at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery, Alabama.
The No. 1 seed Lions advance to the winner’s bracket side of the NAIA bracket and will wait to face the winner of the game between No. 2 Edward Waters University and No. 3 Rust College Thursday.
How It Happened
- Axel Gomez put Florida Memorial on the board in the bottom of the first with an RBI double and pushed the team’s lead to 4-1 in the bottom of the fourth with a 2-run home run to left field.
- FMU took a 4-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth inning and extended it to 5-1 thanks to an RBI single to left field by Luis Ruiz.
- Talladega was gifted a run in the top of the seventh after a pair of wild pitches allowed a run to score and cut into the Lions’ lead.
- Florida Memorial missed out on a chance to take complete control of the game in the bottom of the seventh – loading the bases with three walks but ended the inning on a strikeout.
- Lions skipper Florentino Burgos gave the ball to Joselito Baez – in relief of Sam Briceno – to start the eighth.
- Talladega got three straight hits to start the inning and cut FMU’s lead down to two.
Baez got the next two batters to strike out swinging but yielded another RBI hit to make it a 5-4 game. - All-Sun Conference Second Teamer Isaias Espiritusantos came in and recorded the final out of the inning.
- The Lions couldn’t produce anything in the bottom of the eighth.
- TC threatened in the top of the ninth – starting with a leadoff triple – but Espiritusantos was able to regain control and forced a flyout, strikeout, and groundout to end the game and seal FMU’s 5-4 win.
Inside The Box Score
- Rohandry Javier led all batters, going 4-for-4 with 3 runs scored.
- Gomez finished 2-for-4 with 3 RBI and a run scored.
- Ruiz, Yunior Sanchez, and Nathan Harris each recorded hits Wednesday.
- Max Charnin got the start on the mound and earned the win for FMU, throwing 5.0 innings, allowing 3 hits and 1 run while striking out 2.
- Talladega had 11 hits while the Lions finished with 9.
- Both teams struggled to capitalize on its base runners; TC had 11 left on base and Florida Memorial had 16.
- Tornadoes left fielder Rafael Diaz went 3-for-5 with 2 RBI and a run scored.
Courtesy: Florida Memorial Athletics
