The Jackson State University baseball team won in the last at bat for the second straight game in defeating Alabama A&M 6-5 Saturday afternoon at Braddy Field.
Tied in the bottom of the ninth,
Marshal Luiz was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and
Omar Gomez walked before both runners advanced on a passed ball.
Jatavis Melton then reached on an infield single to second base to load the bases. Following a fielder's choice that forced an out at the plate,
Ty Hill singled through the left side, scoring Gomez with the winning run.
Hill also hit a solo home run in a 4-for-5 day at the plate with a pair of RBI and two runs scored to lead the 10-hit attack for Jackson State (21-21 overall, 9-11 SWAC).
Jefrey Rodriguez also homered for the Tigers and drove in a pair of runs, and
Jaelen Williams had two hits with a run scored and an RBI.
JSU again scored in the first two innings. In the first, the Tigers put together three two-out singles to get on the board. Hill,
Caleb Evans, and Williams had successive singles to give Jackson State a 1-0 lead.
In the second, Rodriguez' solo homer down the left field line gave JSU a 2-0 lead.
After falling behind 3-2 in the fourth, the Tigers tied the game in the bottom of the inning.
El'Rico Riley walked, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by
Marcus Atterberry, and moved to third on a groundout. Gomez then tripled to right center, scoring Riley to tie the game at 3-3.
After Alabama A&M took a two-run lead in the fifth, Jackson State tied it with single runs in the sixth and seventh. Williams led off the sixth with a single and moved to second on a passed ball. Riley then walked, and both runners advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Atterberry. Rodriguez' safety squeeze bunt scored Williams to bring the deficit to 5-4.
In the seventh, Hill's two-out homer to left field tied the game at 5-5.
Jesse Caver got the win in relief, allowing one hit and striking out five over the final two innings.
Jackson State goes for the series sweep Sunday at 1 p.m., with a live video stream on the Jackson State Sports Network.
