ATLANTA – The Jackson State baseball team will open Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament play against Grambling Wednesday at 5 p.m. central time in Atlanta.
JSU (28-23 overall, 13-17 SWAC) is the number four Eastern Division seed and will face the number one Western Division seed Grambling (27-24, 22-7) in the last of four opening round games at Russ Chandler Stadium. The Jackson State Sports Network will have a live radio broadcast free online at gojsutigers.com/live beginning at 4:45 p.m. The game will also be video streamed online via the SWAC Digital Network.
Jackson State is in Bracket B in the tournament against teams it has faced this season in Grambling, Bethune-Cookman, and Southern. The SWAC uses a pool play bracket in a double elimination format until the championship game which is single elimination.
J-State beat Grambling 12-11 in 12 innings in the teams' only previous meeting this season on the final day of the MLB Andre Dawson Classic on Feb. 26 in New Orleans. JSU lost to Southern 5-4 in the teams' only matchup this season in the season opener at the Houston Astros Cactus Jack HBCU Classic in Houston on Feb. 17. The Tigers and Bethune-Cookman split six games in SWAC Eastern Division play, with JSU winning 9-4 in the regular season finale last Saturday.
Jackson State won four of five SWAC series in the second half of the season, going 9-6 over the final 15 games of league play, with series wins over Alabama A&M, Bethune-Cookman, Florida A&M, and Miss. Valley State. As a team, JSU ranks third in the conference in batting average at .306, one of only three teams to hit over .300 this season.
Ty Hill's .390 batting average (6 HR, 53 RBI) leads the Tigers, with Hill one of six players hitting over .300 for JSU. Daniel Bannon (.365, 73 hits, 48 runs scored), Myles White (.329, 46 hits, 34 runs), Marcus Atterberry (.322, 5 HR, 30 RBI), Jatavis Melton (.319, 4 HR, 30 stolen bases), and Bret Mersman (.313, 2 HR, 34 RBI) lead the attack.
On the mound, the Tigers rank fourth in the SWAC in earned run average at 6.74. Christian Womble posted an 8-2 record with 87 strikeouts in 79 innings to lead the starting pitching staff. Jesse Caver (6-4, 67 strikeouts in 71.1 IP) and Colby Guy (5-4, 75 strikeouts in 71.2 IP) have been a formidable trio. Erick Gonzalez (1-2, 60 strikeouts in 46.2 IP) has a team-high eight saves.
Grambling's 52 home runs rank fourth in the SWAC, while GSU ranks third in the league with 116 stolen bases. Keylon Mack (.359 avg. 13 HR, 53 RBI) and Kyle Walker (.357 avg., 21 stolen bases) lead the team in batting average.
#TheeILove
