TIGERS RECORD DOUBLEHEADER SWEEP OVER ALCORN STATE
Ryan McGinty
2/21/07

GRAMBLING, La. –  The Grambling State Tigers (7-4) returned to their winning ways on the baseball diamond with a 18-14 and 2-1 doubleheader sweep over Alcorn State (0-3) on Wednesday afternoon at Tiger Stadium.

            In the second game of the doubleheader, third baseman Justin Kelly singled home first baseman Marques Hatch in the bottom of the seventh to propel the Tigers to a 2-1 victory.

            ASU recorded a 1-0 lead in the top of third after a sacrifice fly from Marcus Taylor.  GSU finally answered in the bottom of the fifth and tied the game at 1-1 after Kelly’s first RBI of the evening.

            With the game knotted at 1-1 entering the bottom of the seventh, leadoff batter Richard Amaro led off with a walk and advanced to second after a bunt single by Marques Hatch.  A bunt single by Walter Roquemore moved the runners over into scoring position and ultimately set up Kelly’s game-winning heroics.

            GSU pitcher John Brown had a career performance with 10 strikeouts and no walks in six innings of play.  Reliever Jonovan Robinson earned his first win of the season after pitching one inning of scoreless relief.

            Kelly led the way at the plate with two RBIs while Roquemore recorded two hits.

Grambling State scored its most runs since the 2003 season in an 18-14 offensive shootout against the Braves in game one.

            After having its offense stalled in a one-run performance on Sunday afternoon, Grambling State found its offense early as they scored six runs in the bottom of the first to chase out ASU starter Francisco Garcia.  Holding a 6-0 lead, ASU fought back and took a 9-6 lead after two-and-a-half innings of play after netting seven hits.

            However, GSU fought back in the bottom of the third frame and regained a 13-9 lead after posting seven runs in the inning.  The Tigers never trailed from that point as they scored in every inning to secure the win.

            Sontus Mitchell (1-0) recorded the win for the Tigers after pitching four innings of relief ball.  John Sharp led the Tigers at the plate offensively with a 3-for-4 performance and three RBIs.  Outfielder Mike Roby and Darsayle Pearson also had solid games with three RBIs apiece.

 

-30-