ATLANTA – The Jackson State baseball team lost to Grambling 8-7 in a back-and-forth Southwestern Athletic Conference Tournament opener for both teams at Russ Chandler Stadium.

JSU (28-24) will face Bethune-Cookman (29-26) in an elimination game Thursday at 11 a.m. CT with a live radio broadcast at gojsutigers.com/live and a live video stream on the SWAC Digital Network.

Omar Gomez hit a solo homer and went 4-for-4 for JSU, and Marcus Atterberry went 3-for-3 with two RBI to lead the 13-hit attack. Myles White and Cesar Saavedra each went 2-for-4 for Jackson State.

Gomez' blast in the eighth inning tied the score at 6-6. After Grambling scored two runs in the bottom of the inning, JSU rallied in the ninth. Ty Hill walked with one out, and with two out White and Atterberry walked to load the bases. Marshal Luiz' sacrifice fly scored Hill, but Jackson State would get no closer.

Trailing 2-0 after three innings, Jackson State got on the board in the fourth. With one out, Bret Mersman walked before White doubled down the left field line, and Atterberry walked to load the bases. Luiz hit into a fielder's choice grounder that scored Mersman, and White scored on a throwing error on the play to tie the game at 2-2. Gomez then singled up the middle, and Saavedra walked to reload the bases. Jatavis Melton was then hit by a pitch to score Luiz for a 3-2 JSU lead.

In the fifth, Mersman doubled to right center with one out and moved to third on a double to right by White. Atterberry then singled through the left side scoring Mersman and White for a 5-2 Jackson State lead.

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