BATON ROUGE, La. (Baseball) – After splitting the first two games, the Grambling State University baseball team got back on track and won the last game to close their series against Southern University, 2-1.  

The G-Men move to 7-9, overall, and 3-3  in the Southwestern Athletic Conference. Southern drops to 2-9 on the season and 1-4 in league play.

Game One

In game one, the Tigers fell to the Jaguars with a score of 3-2. Grambling scored the first run of the game in the top of the third inning. Johan Mojica was walked with the bases loaded to score Marshawn Taylor, 1-0. Taylor walked to reach first base, moved to second base on Wesley Drain's single, and advanced to third base when Daniel Barnett singled to left field. GSU's second run came in the fifth inning. Barnett singled to center field to score Drain, 2-0. Drain walked to reach first base and stole second base.

SU rallied in the eighth inning to score three runs and take the game.

Barnett carried the bat for Grambling going 3-of-4 at the plate with one run.

Tanner Raiburn was the starting pitcher for GSU going six innings for three hits, one walk and five strike outs. Raul Baduel came in as a relief pitcher for eight batters and finished with one hit and two earned runs. Daniel Beizer was the closer and suffered the loss for the Tigers with one inning pitched for one hit, one earned run, one walk, and two strike outs.

Tyler Robinson and Troy Lewis split innings almost evenly with four each. Robinson pitched for five hits, two earned runs, and six walks. Lewis snapped up the win for Southern with no hits, no earned runs, two walks, and three strike outs.

Game Two

The Tigers cleaned up their act and took game two with ease from SU to the tune of 9-6.

Grambling struck first with a run in the second and third inning. The first run came when Tray Bell reached home on a Southern throwing error, 1-0. Bell singled to reach first base and reached second on an error. GSU's second run was scored as Bell doubled to right field to score Barnett, 2-0. Barnett advanced to first on a throwing error.

The Tigers piled on three more runs in the fifth inning, 5-0.

The Jaguars began to hit the ball and score three runs each in the sixth and seventh inning, 6-5.

GSU battled back and posted two runs each in eighth inning and ninth inning. In the eighth inning, Bell singled to center field to scored Drain and Phil Adams, Jr., 7-6. Adams, Jr. singled to reach first base, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, and advanced to third on a passed ball. Drain walked to reach first base and stole second base. During the ninth inning, Drain singled to left field to score Adams, Jr. and Ian Bailey, 9-6. Bailey walked to reach first base, moved to second when Adam, Jr. singled and advanced to third when Taylor was walked.

Bell was the hitter for GSU going 3-of-5 at the plate and three runs batted in. Adams, Jr. showed his hitting skills going 3-of-5 and one run batted in.

Beizer (3-1) snaps up the win for Grambling with three innings pitched for two hits, one earned run, one walk, and four strike outs.

Justin Freeman (0-1) snaps up the loss for SU with one inning pitched for three hits, two earned runs and three walks.

Game Three
The Tigers opened game three with one run as Barnett grounded out to third base to score Taylor, 1-0. Taylor doubled to left field to reach second base, and advanced to third base when Drain hit a sacrifice bunt.

Southern answered with a run in the bottom of the first but Grambling responded with five runs in the top of the second inning. Felder crossed home plate as Adam, Jr. grounded out to third base, 2-1. Felder singled to reach first base, made it to second on a balk, and advanced to third base when Krisitian Franklin hit a sacrifice bunt. The Tiger's next two runs came when Ian Bailey and Taylor scored an earned run on a bad throw, 4-1. Bailey walked to reach first and advanced to third base when Taylor singled to right field. Run number four happened when Drain was able to steal home, 5-1. Drain singled to left field to reach first base, rounded to second on the a bad throw and advanced to third base on a fielding error. The final run of the top of the second inning came when Bell doubled down the left field line to score Barnett, 6-1. Barnett reached first on a fielding error and stole second base.

The Jags posted one run in the bottom of the second inning, 6-2.

GSU scored one run in the top of the third inning as Taylor hit a sacrifice fly to left field to score Felder, 7-2. Felder walked to reach first base, moved to second base as Franklin grounded out, and stole third base.

The Tigers scored five more runs in the top of the fourth inning, 11-2 and kept SU at bay with great defensive play. Grambling only allowed the Jags one more run late in the ninth inning to close the game, 11-3.

Grambling was led by Taylor and Drain in the batting department. Drain finished the game going 4-of-5 for two runs and three runs batted in. Taylor went 3-of-5 for three runs and three runs batted in.

Elijah Saunders (2-1) picked up the win with six innings pitched for six hits, one earned run, two walks, and one strike out.

Jacob Snyder (0-1) suffered the loss with 1.2 innings pitched for six hits, two earned runs, and one walk.

The G-Men will take the diamond again on Tuesday at 6 p.m. when the team faces neighboring Louisiana Tech University for a single game.