DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Jackson State pitcher Colby Guy struck out a career-high 11 batters to power the Tigers to a 9-4 win at Bethune-Cookman in the final game of the regular season for both teams.
At one point, Guy struck out five consecutive hitters – the last two batters in the fifth and all three batters in the sixth - as the Tigers (28-23 overall, 13-17 SWAC) split the six-game season series with the Wildcats (29-25, 20-9).
Myles White's three hits fueled a 15-hit attack as eight Tiger starters had at least one hit. Jatavis Melton, Daniel Bannon, Ty Hill, Marcus Atterberry, and Omar Gomez each had two hits for Jackson State, which opens SWAC Tournament play Wednesday against Grambling at 5 p.m. CT in Atlanta.
The Tigers had three two-out RBI hits in the game. Bret Mersman's single in the first inning scored Ty Hill, who singled earlier in the inning to give JSU a 1-0 lead.
After B-CU scored three runs in the bottom of the first, Jackson State slowed regained control of the game. In the third, Melton reached on an error to lead off the inning, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and a groundout, and scored on White's two-out single to right field to cut the deficit to 3-2.
In the fifth, Bannon singled to lead off the inning, and moved to second on a groundout. After White was hit by a pitch, Atterberry's single through the right side scored Bannon to tie the score at 3-3 as White moved to third. Atterberry then stole second, with White scoring on a throwing error as the Tigers regained the lead for good, 4-3.
In the sixth, Melton singled with one out, advanced to second on an error on the play, and moved to third on a wild pitch. Bannon singled through the left side to score Melton for a 5-3 lead. Following a single by Hill and with two out, White singled to center to score Bannon for a 6-3 Jackson State lead.
That would be more than enough for Guy, who only allowed one run over the final six innings on the mound. Daelan Caraway and Omari Barksdale got the final six outs for the Tigers.
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