NEW ORLEANS, La. -- The Tigers of Texas Southern University opened the postseason Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament Wednesday morning with a 7-4 win over Alabama A&M.
Anthony Martinez pitched his second complete game of the season to vault the Tigers into the winners' bracket semifinal, in which they will face Jackson State at 3 p.m. Thursday. Martinez struck out five batters and induced 15 groundouts while giving up only two earned runs.
The Tigers gave Martinez a comfortable lead when they scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning that broke a scoreless tie. Back-to-back RBI singles by Kamren Dukes and Gaudencio Lucca, and a two-RBI double from Blake Hicks, highlighted the inning for TSU.
Alabama A&M, the No. 3-seeded team from the SWAC's East Division, rallied for four runs in the ninth that was aided by a pair of TSU errors, but ultimately fell short as Martinez struck out the last batter with two runners on base. Martinez had allowed only one hit through his first eight innings of work.
Jackson State, the East Division champions, defeated Southern 4-2 to advance to the semifinal round. The Tigers from East of the Mississippi River swept Texas Southern in a three-game series in February.
Courtesy: TSU Athletics
Anthony Martinez pitched his second complete game of the season to vault the Tigers into the winners' bracket semifinal, in which they will face Jackson State at 3 p.m. Thursday. Martinez struck out five batters and induced 15 groundouts while giving up only two earned runs.
The Tigers gave Martinez a comfortable lead when they scored six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning that broke a scoreless tie. Back-to-back RBI singles by Kamren Dukes and Gaudencio Lucca, and a two-RBI double from Blake Hicks, highlighted the inning for TSU.
Alabama A&M, the No. 3-seeded team from the SWAC's East Division, rallied for four runs in the ninth that was aided by a pair of TSU errors, but ultimately fell short as Martinez struck out the last batter with two runners on base. Martinez had allowed only one hit through his first eight innings of work.
Jackson State, the East Division champions, defeated Southern 4-2 to advance to the semifinal round. The Tigers from East of the Mississippi River swept Texas Southern in a three-game series in February.
Courtesy: TSU Athletics