BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | The Grambling State University baseball team kept its quest for a Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) championship alive with a convincing 14-5 victory over Texas Southern on Thursday afternoon at Young Memorial Field on the campus of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.

GSU exploded for 18 hits, battering TSU's pitchers from beginning to end. Six Tigers had multi-hit performances.

On the mound, JC Bonilla (1-0) got his first start, and win, of the season. The senior hurler from Bronx, N.Y. worked 5.1 innings, surrendering just one run on four hits, with four strikeouts.

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the first, Grambling State got in gear scoring two runs. Texas Southern's starting pitcher Jordan Martinez hit three batters in a row, with two outs, to load the bases. Cameron Bufford cashed in a with a two-RBI single.  
• GSU put more pressure on TSU in the bottom of the third, hitting back-to-back singles to open the frame. Shemar Page laced a single to right field, putting GSU on top 3-1. Bufford extended the lead to 4-1 with another RBI single. 
• John Garcia helped GSU craft a 6-1 lead with a two RBI in the bottom of the fourth inning. 
• In the fifth inning, Terry Burrell III singled through the right field, plating another Tiger run, to go up 7-1.
• Texas Southern rallied back in the top of the sixth, taking advantage of a GSU pitching change, scoring four runs to cut Grambling State's lead to 7-5. 
• GSU got some of those runs back in the bottom of the sixth when Keylon Mack hit a no-doubter sailing high over the right field wall, giving GSU a 10-5 advantage over TSU. 
• In the the seventh inning, Trevor Hatton stroked a single through the left side of the infield, plating another GSU. Later in the inning, Page mashed a 3-2 pitch over the right field wall, stretching the Tigers' lead to 14-5.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS 

•  Grambling State scored 14 runs on 18 hits, leaving 10 runners on base.
• Texas Southern finished with five runs on 10 hits, also leaving 10 runners stranded 
• TSU recored two errors
• John Garcia went 3-for-5 with two RBI and a double
• Shemar Page went 3-for-4 with a HR and four RBI
• Cameron Bufford went 3-for-4 with three RBI
• Keylon Mack went 3-for-4 with a HR a three RBI
• Santiago Hungria, III, Corben Peters and Emir Garrett made relief appearances for GSU, combining for four runs on six hits and three strikeouts
• Jordan Martinez (6-5) was charged with the loss, allowing six runs on five hits

UP NEXT 
Grambling State return to Regions Field to take on Bethune-Cookman in an elimination game on Friday night. First pitch is set for approximately 8 p.m. 

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