Jackson, Miss. – The Wildcats' bats erupted for an eight-run sixth en route to a 13-2 drubbing of Jackson State, Sunday afternoon in Jackson, Miss.
The Wildcats punched their ticket to the 2022 SWAC Baseball Tournament in Birmingham, Ala. with their twenty-first win of the season.
How It Happened
Jackson State (23-24, 10-14 SWAC) grabbed an early lead in the third with a pair of RBI singles that made it 2-0.
From there, it was all Wildcats.
B-CU (21-26, 15-9 SWAC) cut the deficit in half as
Jeremy Garcia scored Boris Peña on an RBI double in the fourth.
The Wildcats' offense exploded in the sixth for eight runs. B-CU worked two walks and Frank Febles took his team-leading fourteenth hit-by-pitch of the season to load the bases with one out.
Malik Stephens singled to lock things at 2-2.
A batter later,
Matthew Garcia walked in the go-ahead run.
Christopher Patterson sent a single into right field that cleared the bases with help from a Jackson State error, making it 6-2.
That was not all for B-CU in the sixth. The Wildcats re-loaded the bases with two outs. A wild pitch scored
Irvin Escobar and
Jeremy Garcia brought
Manny Souffrain home with an RBI single.
Colton Olasin capped off the monstrous inning with another bases loaded walk that made it 9-2.
The Wildcats ended things early with four more runs in the eighth.
Kyle Wilkinson started the flurry with a single – he came around to score on a pair of Tiger errors.
The Wildcats loaded the bases yet again and
Malik Stephens singled to score
Jeremy Garcia.
Matthew Garcia scored
Jan Reyes on a sacrifice fly and another Tiger error scored Olasin to make it 13-2, Wildcats.
The SWAC's 10-run rule ended things after eight innings.
"Great overall team win for us today to close out a series strong," Wildcats head coach
Jonathan Hernandez said postgame. "We pitched well, played clean defense, and our offense came through in a big way and took care of our opportunities. This is the type of baseball we expect as we get ready to make a run with the season winding down."
Nolan Santos did
Nolan Santos things again with a seven-inning effort in which he allowed two runs on five hits with a walk. He struck out 11.
"Santos was sensational this afternoon," Hernandez said. "Any time your starter can work deep into games with the kind of success Nolan had this afternoon – you feel pretty good about your chances."
Dale Michaud pitched the eighth, allowing two hits with a strikeout.
The win assures Hernandez and the Wildcats will make their SWAC postseason debut as the 2022 tournament gets underway at the end of the month in Birmingham, Ala.
"From the moment we arrived on campus in August, it has been one of our goals to grind through the season for the opportunity to play in the postseason," Hernandez said. "I'm very proud of our players and coaching staff in achieving that goal and being the first B-CU baseball team to clinch a spot in the SWAC tournament."
Notes
- The top of the Wildcats lineup – Malik Stephens, and Christopher Patterson – combined for two runs on eight hits with six RBI and a walk.
- Jeremy Garcia went a perfect 3-3 with a run, two RBI, and a walk.
- Malik Stephens has reached safely in 17 straight games after three hits this afternoon.
- Nolan Santos has now struck out double-digit batters in four straight starts, five of his last six starts, and six total times this season. His season total sits at 93.
- In two less starts, Santos pulls to within a third of an inning of Louis Lipthratt for the team lead in innings pitched.
Up Next
Next up for the Wildcats, the squad will head to Gainesville for the second time this season for a rematch with the Florida Gators. First pitch is set for Tuesday, May 10 at 6:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on SEC Network+.
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--#HailWildcats--
