HOUSTON, Texas | Rafael Ramirez, III homered and
Ryan Evans picked up his first save as the Grambling State University baseball team sealed the No. 2 seed from the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) West Division with a 7-6 victory on Sunday afternoon over Texas Southern at MacGregor Park.
Grambling State's victory, along with Arkansas-Pine Bluff's win over Prairie View A&M on Sunday, secured the No. 2 seed in the SWAC Tournament. The Golden Lions currently sit at 12-10, with a pair of games against Southern remaining, but those games are irrelevant because GSU won the season series, 4-2.
Grambling State (23-22 overall and 14-10 SWAC) struck first in the opening inning with one run as
Ace Felder, who began the game with walk, came around to score when Ramirez grounded out to the third baseman to give GSU a quick 1-0 lead.
Texas Southern (23-26, 17-6) tied the game with one run in the bottom of the third, but Grambling State answered in the fourth with three runs on five hits and took advantage of one error to grab a 4-1 advantage.
Drexler Macaay opened the frame with a single through the left side and advanced to second when
Garrett Smith reached on a fielder's choice as Macaay took the base on an error.
Trevin Bolden reached on a fielder's choice as Macaay was out at third.
D'Quan Matthews followed with a base hit to right to load the bases with one out. Felder reached on an infield hit as Smith scored from third. After a pitching change,
Marshawn Taylor singled through the right side to plate Bolden and
Richard Ortiz singled to left to plate Matthews as GSU built a three-run lead.
Texas Southern closed the gap to 4-2 with one run in the fifth, but again Grambling State answered as Macaay, who reached on a base hit with two outs, scored on a Smith single to extend the lead to 5-2 in the seventh.
Texas Southern tied the game at 5 in the eighth when Christian Sanchez smacked a three-run homer to right center, but back came Grambling State in the ninth with two runs to grab a 7-5 lead.
Ramirez opened the frame with a solo shot to right, his team-high and conference-leading 15th of the season.
Isaiah Torres followed with a base on balls and stole second. Macaay's sacrifice bunt pushed Torres to third. Smith reached on fielder's choice as Torres was out at home for the first of the inning. Bolden followed with a double down the line in right to plate Smith.
Texas Southern threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth when Blake Hicks singled and OJ Oloruntimilehin doubled to left to put two runners on in scoring position. GSU reliever
Ryan Huntington got Horace LeBlanc to strike out looking and Ricky Urbano flied out to center for the sacrifice as Isaiah Perry, who pinch ran for Hicks, scored to cut the margin to 7-6 with two outs. Evans came to close the door and the reliever did just that as Keanu Van Kuren flied out to left as Torres made a spectacular diving catch in the gap to give Grambling State a victory to conclude the series.
Inside the Numbers
* Grambling State plated seven runs on 10 hits and stranded 11 baserunners.
* Rafael Ramirez (two RBIs and one run scored) and
Drexler Macaay (one run scored) led GSU at the plate with two hits each.
*
Ace Felder,
Marshawn Taylor,
Richard Ortiz,
Garrett Smith,
Trevin Bolden and
D'Quan Matthews recorded one hit apiece.
*
Christian Marquez pitched six solid innings and did not figure into the decision. He surrendered two runs on five hits, fanned three and walked two.
*
Ryan Huntington (3-1) pitched 2.2 innings to pick up the win. He was tagged for four runs on six hits and struck out four.
*
Ryan Evans earned his first save of the season in just 0.1 innings worked.
* Texas Southern finished with six runs on 11 hits, committed two errors and left three on base.
* OJ Oloruntimilehin led the attack at the plate by going 3-for-4 (three doubles) and one run scored.
* Kameron Dukes went 1-for-4 to extend his nation-longest hitting streak to 34 games.
* Darius Boykins started but didn't figure into the decision as he went 3.1 innings. He gave up four runs (two earned) on four hits, with three walks and two strikeouts.
* Jacob Gilbreath, Robert Loza, Seth Oliver (3-4) and Alexander Carrillo pitched in relief.
Up Next
Grambling State returns to action with a pair of non-conference games this week, first on the road against Northwestern State on Tuesday, followed by the home finale against Louisiana Tech on Wednesday. First pitch for both games are set for 6 p.m.
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