The 2023 SWAC baseball tournament began Wednesday morning with four games on the path to conference supremacy.
Here is a recap of what took place on the diamond:
Florida A&M 9, Texas Southern 1
Late-inning offense pushed Florida A&M past Texas Southern 9-1 on Wednesday morning.
The contest started mainly as a pitcher’s duel, with the first run not coming until the top of the fifth inning when Janmikell Bastardo launched a towering shot over the left field fence to put FAMU up 1-0.
The Rattlers scored twice in the seventh — the first coming on a fielding error with the bases loaded that allowed Jared Weber to come home — and the second tally coming on a Will Brown sacrifice fly that plated Sebastian Greico to give the Rattlers a 3-0 lead.
Florida A&M broke the game open with a four-run eighth inning, three of which came on Bastardo’s second homer, which left the contest at 7-0. Assisted by a Texas Southern fielding error, the Rattlers tacked on two more in the top of the ninth. Texas Southern avoided the shutout, scoring a single run in the bottom of the ninth when Alexander Olivio’s base hit drove in Jalen Freeman.
Southern 4, Bethune-Cookman 2
Aided by a Southern fielding error and a hit batsman, Bethune struck first, scoring two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Southern responded with a run in the top of the fifth when Jaylen Armstrong’s double down the left field line brought home JJ Rollon to cut the lead in half at 2-1.
Bethune Cookman’s fielding issues resulted in three runs for Southern in the eighth inning that pushed the Jaguars in front 4-2.
B-CU got the tying run to the bottom of the ninth with just one out, but Manny Soffrain hit into a double play made possible by a perfectly executed shift in the Southern infield.
Alabama State 11, Prairie View 1
Alabama State only needed seven innings to dispatch Prairie View, beating the Panthers 11-1. Alabama State got to work, scoring four runs in the bottom of the first inning. Prairie View scored their lone run of the contest in the top of the fourth inning when Sebastian Coria’s single drove in Alex Martinez. The Hornets would add another run in the bottom of the fourth via a Trento Jamison RBI single to take a 5-1 lead.
Alabama State further separated themselves from the Panthers with runs in the top of the fifth, with the significant blows being home runs from Jack Hay and Ali Lapread. A pair of Hornets runs in the bottom of the sixth inning further pulled Alabama State away.
Alabama State advances to face Florida A&M Thursday afternoon. Prairie View takes on Texas Southern in an elimination game Thursday morning.
Grambling 8, Jackson State 7
Grambling struck first in the bottom of the third inning when Tiger Borom blasted a two-run homer to put the GSU up 2-0. Jackson State claimed the lead in the top of the fourth with three runs.
A Marcus Atterberry’s two-run single in the top of the fifth pushed the JSU lead to 5-2. Grambling trimmed the deficit to 5-4 with two runs in the bottom of the fifth before returning in front 6-5 on Keylon Mack’s two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh.
Omar Gomez’s solo shot in the top of the eighth tied the game at 6. Grambling took the lead back at 8-6 with RBI base hits from Mack and Cameron Buuford in the bottom of the eighth. Jackson State brought in one run on a sacrifice fly, but Gomez’s fly out to right field ended the JSU rally and the game.
With the win, Grambling faces Southern, while Jackson State will take on Bethune Cookman in an elimination game.
