HOUSTON – The Tigers of Texas Southern University gave its largest crowd of 2018 an exciting finish to the regular season Sunday before succumbing 7-6 to visiting Grambling State.
Rafael Ramirez' home run to lead off the top of the ninth highlighted a two-run inning for Grambling (23-22, 14-10 SWAC); the two runs proved to be just enough as the hometown Tigers rallied for one run and had the potential tying run on base when the game ended.
Though the loss ended Texas Southern's (23-25, 17-6 SWAC) nine-game home winning streak, another streak – Kamren Dukes' hitting streak – stayed intact. The senior from Pearland, Texas (Pearland) knocked an RBI single in the bottom of the third that scored Trey LeBlanc, and pushed his hitting streak to 34 consecutive games.
Duke's hit, which was also the 200th of his collegiate career, moved him to within one game of the longest hitting streak in Division I this season. Jameson Hannah of Dallas Baptist recorded a 35-game hitting streak earlier this season; Dukes' 34-game streak is the longest active streak in the nation.
Ryan Huntington picked up the win in relief for Grambling, tossing two and two-thirds innings. He likely would have picked up a three-inning save were it not for TSU's Christian Sanchez hitting a game-tying, three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. The blast was Sanchez' 16th of the season, which leads the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Trailing by two heading into the bottom of the ninth, TSU began to rally as it had in the previous inning. Blake Hicks, one of 11 seniors honored by the team during the pre-game Senior Day festivities, led off with a single to center field. He was then replaced by pinch-runner Isaiah Perry, who then got to third base on OJ Oloruntimilehin's double to deep left field.
With two runners in scoring position and nobody out, Huntington got a looking strikeout of Trey LeBlanc, who had two hits in three previous at-bats. The next batter, Ricky Urbano, hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Perry to score.
With two outs and Keanu Van Kuren at the plate, Grambling sent reliever Ryan Evans to the mound. With a pinch-hit in his earlier at-bat, Van Kuren knocked a fly ball toward the gap in left-centerfield, but Isaiah Torres' sliding catch preserved the Grambling victory and prevented a TSU sweep of the series.
Oloruntimilehin led TSU with three hits – all doubles – in four at-bats. Ramirez had two hits and two RBIs for Grambling.
In spite of the loss, Texas Southern will enter next week's SWAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed from the conference's West Division. The Tigers wrapped up the division title – the third in program history – with Friday's win over Grambling.
The SWAC Tournament begins Wednesday, May 16, at Wesley Barrow Stadium in New Orleans.
Courtesy: TSU Athletics
Rafael Ramirez' home run to lead off the top of the ninth highlighted a two-run inning for Grambling (23-22, 14-10 SWAC); the two runs proved to be just enough as the hometown Tigers rallied for one run and had the potential tying run on base when the game ended.
Though the loss ended Texas Southern's (23-25, 17-6 SWAC) nine-game home winning streak, another streak – Kamren Dukes' hitting streak – stayed intact. The senior from Pearland, Texas (Pearland) knocked an RBI single in the bottom of the third that scored Trey LeBlanc, and pushed his hitting streak to 34 consecutive games.
Duke's hit, which was also the 200th of his collegiate career, moved him to within one game of the longest hitting streak in Division I this season. Jameson Hannah of Dallas Baptist recorded a 35-game hitting streak earlier this season; Dukes' 34-game streak is the longest active streak in the nation.
Ryan Huntington picked up the win in relief for Grambling, tossing two and two-thirds innings. He likely would have picked up a three-inning save were it not for TSU's Christian Sanchez hitting a game-tying, three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning. The blast was Sanchez' 16th of the season, which leads the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Trailing by two heading into the bottom of the ninth, TSU began to rally as it had in the previous inning. Blake Hicks, one of 11 seniors honored by the team during the pre-game Senior Day festivities, led off with a single to center field. He was then replaced by pinch-runner Isaiah Perry, who then got to third base on OJ Oloruntimilehin's double to deep left field.
With two runners in scoring position and nobody out, Huntington got a looking strikeout of Trey LeBlanc, who had two hits in three previous at-bats. The next batter, Ricky Urbano, hit a sacrifice fly that allowed Perry to score.
With two outs and Keanu Van Kuren at the plate, Grambling sent reliever Ryan Evans to the mound. With a pinch-hit in his earlier at-bat, Van Kuren knocked a fly ball toward the gap in left-centerfield, but Isaiah Torres' sliding catch preserved the Grambling victory and prevented a TSU sweep of the series.
Oloruntimilehin led TSU with three hits – all doubles – in four at-bats. Ramirez had two hits and two RBIs for Grambling.
In spite of the loss, Texas Southern will enter next week's SWAC Tournament as the No. 1 seed from the conference's West Division. The Tigers wrapped up the division title – the third in program history – with Friday's win over Grambling.
The SWAC Tournament begins Wednesday, May 16, at Wesley Barrow Stadium in New Orleans.
Courtesy: TSU Athletics