JACKSON, Miss. – The Jackson State University baseball team swept a Saturday doubleheader over Florida A&M, winning 4-3 and 9-4 at Braddy Field.
Jackson State (25-25 overall, 12-13 SWAC) will go for the series sweep Sunday at noon.
Game 1 - Tigers 4, FAMU 3: JSU scored three runs in the first inning.
Jatavis Melton walked to lead off the inning, and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. After Melton moved to third on a passed ball, he scored as
Ty Hill reached on an error for a 1-0 lead. After
Jaelen Williams and
Caleb Evans reached on infield singles to load the bases, a squeeze bunt by
Marcus Atterberry scored Hill for a 2-0 lead. Williams then scored on a wild pitch for a 3-0 lead.
Tied 3-3 in the fifth,
Omar Gomez' solo homer to left on a 2-1 pitch gave JSU the lead for good.
Nikelle Galatas earned the win, going six innings allowing six hits and three runs, walking three and striking out seven.
Juan Marulanda pitched the final three innings of one-hit relief to earn the save, striking out four and walking none.
Game 2 – Tigers 9, FAMU 2: Trailing 2-0,
Jefrey Rodriguez' solo home run in the second inning started a stretch of nine consecutive runs scored by Jackson State.
In the third, Williams' two-run single scored Melton and Hill to give JSU a 3-2 lead.
El'Rico Riley's leadoff single started a five-run fourth for the Tigers. With one out, Gomez' reached on an error as Riley moved to third before scoring on an RBI groundout by Melton. Jackson State then scored four runs with two outs.
Devontae Rhodes doubled down the right field line, scoring Gomez for a 5-2 lead. Following an intentional walk to Hill, Evans, and Williams each had RBI singles to center, scoring Rhodes and Hill, respectively, for a 7-2 lead. After Evans and Williams advanced on a wild pitch,
Marcus Atterberry walked as Evans scored on a ball-four wild pitch for an 8-2 Jackson State lead.
In the seventh, Atterberry led off with a double to left field and scored on a two-out single by Melton.
Williams (three RBI), Melton (one run scored, two RBI), and Rhodes (one run, one RBI) each had two hits for Jackson State.
Erick Gonzalez got the win on the mound, allowing four hits, walking three, and striking out nine over eight innings.
