NEW ORLEANS, La. | The Grambling State University baseball team could not recover from a three-run fifth inning by Alabama State as the Tigers were eliminated from the 2019 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Baseball Tournament on Saturday with a 5-2 loss to the Hornets at Wesley Barrow Stadium.
 
Grambling State concludes its season at 27-25 overall, while Alabama State (27-25) advances to Sunday's SWAC Tournament Championship game. The Hornets will face the winner of Southern/Texas Southern at 11:30 a.m. and the game will be broadcasted live on ESPNEWS.
 
How It Happened
Alabama State plated one run in the bottom of the first inning to stake to a 1-0 advantage.
 
Grambling State tied the game at 1 in the second when Trevin Bolden, who reached on an infield hit, scored on a two-out base hit through the left side by Ian Bailey.
 
The Hornets broke the 1-all tie in the bottom of the fifth with three runs on four hits to grab a 4-1 advantage.
 
Alabama State added another run in the seventh to extend the lead to 5-1.
 
The Tigers cut the deficit to 5-2 with a solo shot to left by Ian Bailey in the top of the eighth.
 
Inside the Numbers
> Grambling State finished with two runs on six hits and left three on base
> Ian Bailey paced the Tiger offense by going 2-for-3, with both RBIs and one run score
> Drexler Macaay, Jahmoi Percival, Trevin Bolden and CJ Mervilus each collected one hit
> Jason Alvarez, pitching on two full days of rest, threw 113 pitches and took the loss in 6.2 innings of work. He gave up five runs on 11 hits, fanned six and walked one
> Grant Landry and Bryan Delgado pitched in relief
> Alabama State finished with five runs on 13 hits, committed one error and stranded eight on base
> Santiago Garcia led and Christian DeGuzman led the way at the plate with three hits each
> Terrell McCall picked up the win. He surrendered two runs (one earned) on six hits, fanned 10 and walked one in eight innings pitched
> Jeremy Rivera closed out the game in the ninth
 
News and Notes
> Grambling State entered the tournament as the SWAC Western Division No. 2 seed
> Alabama State entered the tournament as the SWAC Eastern Division No. 1 seed
> Grambling State eliminated Prairie View A&M from the tournament
> Alabama State defeated Grambling State, 5-3, on Thursday, but GSU knocked off ASU, 15-9, on Friday
> This was the fourth and final meeting between Grambling State and Alabama State this season
> Bryan Delgado, Drexler Macaay, Isaiah Torres and Kevin Whitaker, Jr. were named to the All-SWAC Second Team on Tuesday
> Tigers head coach James Cooper fell to 16-16 all-time in SWAC Tournament games
> Grambling State ended its season at 27-25, its first winning season in the James Cooper era
 
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