GRAMBLING, La. | For the second night in a row, the Grambling State University baseball team jumped out to a big lead, but unlike Tuesday night's affair, the Tigers held off the late charge by Alcorn State in picking up an 8-7 victory on Wednesday evening at Wilbert Ellis Field at R.W.E. Jones Park.
Grambling State (10-8) plated five runs on three hits in the bottom of the first to stake out an early lead.
D'Quan Matthews and
Garrett Smith drew back-to-back walks to begin the frame. Both runners advanced a base on a passed ball and
Marshawn Taylor walked on four straight pitches to load the bases.
Drexler Macaay singled through the left side to score Matthews and Rafael Ramirez III flied out to left to plate Smith on the sacrifice.
With one down in the inning,
Cameron Shannon delivered the big hit in the inning with a triple to right, scoring Taylor and Macaay. Shannon came across when
Trevin Bolden singled up the middle with one out.
Chris Campbell struck out and
Phil Adams Jr. grounded out to the pitcher to end the Grambling State inning.
Alcorn State (5-10) cut the deficit to 5-2 with a pair of runs in the second, but the Tigers picked up one run in the third and two more in the fourth to grab an 8-2 advantage.
The Braves made the game a bit interesting in the latter innings with two runs in the seventh and three in the eighth to trim the margin to 8-7.
Alcorn State went down in order in the ninth as Grambling State captured its third straight win.
Inside The Numbers
* Grambling State scored eight runs on eight hits, committed one error and left five on base.
* Rafael Ramirez went 2-for-2, with three RBIs and two runs scored to lead the Grambling State offense.
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Cameron Shannon registered two hits, including one triple.
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Marshawn Taylor,
Drexler Macaay,
Andrew Hinton and
Trevin Bolden each recorded one hit.
* Kerry Boykins Jr. (2-1) picked up the victory in six solid innings of work. He gave up two earned runs on six hits, fanned seven and walked one.
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Andy Escano worked 1.2 innings in relief and was tagged for five runs (three earned) on three hits and walked a pair.
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Daniel Beizer earned his fifth save by striking out one in 1.1 innings.
* Alcorn State finished with seven runs on nine hits and left nine on base.
* Wallace Rios Jimenez, Brendly Martina each had two hits for the Braves.
* George Osborne III (0-3) took the loss as he was tagged for eight earned runs on seven hits, with four walks and four strikeouts in four innings pitched.
Up Next
Grambling State opens up a three-game Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) series on Friday against rival Southern. First pitch from Wilbert Ellis Field at R.W.E. Jones Park is set for 6 p.m.
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