All-Florida affair in SWAC Baseball Championship

On Saturday, the SWAC Baseball Tournament featured two games that set the stage for Sunday’s championship showdown where familiar foes will face off.

Game 1: Florida A&M 8, Alabama State 4

FAMU took an early 2-0 lead when Janmikell Bastardo hit a two-run bomb, which was the second time in the tournament he has left the yard.

A leadoff double from Will Brown and a Haidermota single set the Rattlers up with runners on the corners with no outs. A sacrifice fly brought Brown in to extend the FAMU lead to 3-0.

Alabama State got on the board in the bottom of the fourth inning, scoring two runs via RBI singles from Cristian Lopez and Jamal George that trimmed the Rattlers advantage to a single run at 3-2.

Jared Webber’s shot over the left-field fence in the top of the fifth pushed the lead to 4-2. After a dropped pop fly off the bat of Joseph Pierini and a single from Will Brown, a Adam Haidemota base hit drove in Pierini to give FAMU a 5-2 advantage.

Jalen Niles welcomed the new pitcher with a single up the middle that drove in Brown, putting FAMU up 6-2.

In the top of the sixth, Weber, who homered in his previous at-bat, just missed out on his second one of the day, turning it into a double that scored Ty Hanchey to extend the Florida A&M lead to 7-2.

Two walks and an error set up Alabama State with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Ian Matos was able to draw a walk that forced home George to bring the score to 7-3. A flyout from Jack Hay was enough to score Randy Flores, drawing the Hornets to within three at 7-4.

FAMU added a run on a Pierini double that scored Bastardo and put the Rattlers up 8-4 heading into the bottom of the ninth inning. Unlike in their previous matchups in the tournament, there were no late-game heroics for the Hornets. to advance to the SWAC championship game on Sunday.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗹𝗼𝗴𝘆 𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗧𝗟𝗘𝗥𝗦 𝗪!

Rattlers are headed to the 2023 SWAC Championship Game after beating Alabama State 8-4.#FAMU | #FAMUly | #Rattlers | #FangsUp 🐍 pic.twitter.com/K808RDoW8Q

— Florida A&M Baseball ⚾️ (@FAMU_Baseball) May 27, 2023

Bethune-Cookman outlasts Grambling to play for first SWAC championship

Grambling got on the board first on run-scoring hits by Cameron Bufford and Kyle Walker to put the Tigers up 2-0 in the first inning.

Bethune-Cookman answered back in the second. RBI singles from Colton Olasin and Jeremy Garcia accounted for the first two of a six-run inning. Garrett Chun drew a walk that forced home Olasin, putting B-CU up 3-2. Hylan Hall’s base-clearing double completed the explosive inning that left the Wildcats with a 6-2 lead.

The Wildcats bats were still active, pushing three across with a pair of RBI base hits from Manny Souffrain and Olasin and a Garcia’s sac fly pushed B-CU out in front 9-2.

RBI base hits from Olasis, Chun, and Hall were part of a 4-hit, 5-run fourth inning that extended the Cookman advantage to 14-2.

After giving up the two runs in the first inning, B-CU starting pitcher Santiago Gomez settled in and silenced the Grambling bats, allowing just a single hit over his next four innings of work before the ball was handed to reliever Gerald Bess, who surrendered a hit and two runs in his inning on the mound.