BILOXI, Miss. – The Jackson State University baseball team completed a three-game series sweep of Mississippi Valley State with a 17-8 win in the Gulf Coast Diamond Classic at MGM Park.
Every Jackson State starter had at least one hit, led by Jefery Rodriguez' four-hit game with three runs scored and two RBI.
El'Rico Riley homered, scored twice, and drove in two runs as the Tigers (29-25 overall, 16-14 SWAC) enter the conference tournament Wednesday in Birmingham on a six-game winning streak.
Trailing 6-2 after three innings and a rain delay, JSU scored 15 runs over the final six innings.
Ty Hill's two-run single in the fourth scored
Marcus Atterberry and Rodriguez to cut the Tigers' deficit to 6-4.
In the fifth,
Omar Gomez reached on an error to score Riley, and
Jatavis Melton's infield single scored Rodriguez to tie the game at 6-6.
After Valley regained the lead in the home fifth, a three-run sixth gave Jackson State the lead for good. Hill was hit by the pitch to lead off the inning,
Jaelen Williams walked, and Evans reached on a bunt single to load the bases. Riley followed with a sacrifice fly to score Hill. Atterberry then scored on an error to give
JSU the lead for good, and Evans scored at home and an attempted double steal for a 9-7 lead.
Juan Maralanda got the win in relief, going 2 2/3 innings of one-hit relief, allowing one unearned run, walking three and striking out four.
Melton, Rhodes, Hill, Evans, Atterberry, and Gomez each had two hits in the 19-hit attack. In the three-game series, Jackson State scored 63 runs with 61 hits, 19 of them extra base hits including seven home runs.
