Alabama State appeared on its way to having to work through the loser's bracket of the SWAC Tournament. Instead, the SWAC regular season champions finished the day celebrating an improbable come-from-behind 9-8 victory over Florida A&M at Russ Chandler Stadium in Atlanta.
The winning run came on an RBI single by Jayden Sloan. It was part of a five-run ninth inning that began with the Rattlers enjoying the 8-4 advantage. The inning featured three hits and three walks. Cristian Lopez's two-run double tied the game with two outs, and Sloan followed with the single that scored Lopez.
Adiel Melendez got the win for the Hornets after allowing one run in 1.1 innings.
Alabama State, trying to make the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season, will play a semifinal game against Florida A&M or Prairie View A&M on Friday at 2 p.m. CT. Those two teams will play in an elimination game on Friday at 9 a.m. CT.
Sun Belt Tournament
Southern Miss 7, Troy 6: The Trojans went toe-to-toe with the 16th-ranked team in the country before falling in the ninth inning at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery. The winning run came on a one-out single by Danny Lynch, with Slade Wilks scoring the winning run.
The Trojans entered the eighth inning facing a 6-3 deficit. A two-run single by Tremayne Cobb Jr. was the biggest blow of a three-run inning that tied the game.
William Sullivan led Troy with three hits, including a triple, and three runs scored. Ben Thompson got the loss for Troy despite striking out six of the 11 batters he faced.
The Trojans move into a loser's bracket game against Appalachian State on Friday at 3 p.m. Troy beat Appalachian State, 10-9, in 10 innings in a first-round game on Wednesday.
Southern Conference Tournament
Samford 2, East Tennessee State 1: Starter Jacob Cravey and closer Ben Petschke battled on the mound, and No. 9 hitter Andrew Bennett provided the game's biggest blow as the regular season champions moved into the winner's bracket in Greenville, South Carolina.
Cravey, the SoCon Pitcher of the Year, allowed seven hits, struck out seven and walked none before leaving with one out and runners on first and second base in the eighth inning. Samford led 1-0 when he left on the strength of a solo home run by freshman Lucas Steele.
Petschke allowed an RBI single to the first batter he faced before battling out of the jam. Samford's turn at the plate in the eighth inning began with two outs before Bennett sent a towering fly ball over the left field wall.
"Andrew got into one," Samford head coach Tony David said on the ESPN+ broadcast. "He's got tremendous power. There was obviously no doubt, the distance on that one, we just weren't sure if it was going to stay fair with the wind hooking that way."
Petschke closed things out in the ninth inning to earn his fifth win of the season.
Samford second baseman Jayden Davis had his 37-game hitting streak snapped after going hitless in three at-bats. However, Davis made the biggest defensive play of the game when Petschke threw wildly to second base after fielding an eighth-inning grounder. Davis hustled over to back up the play and was able to throw the potential go-ahead run out at the plate.
The Bulldogs play No. 3 seed Wofford on Friday at 3 p.m. CT in a semifinal. Wofford advanced with a 16-14 victory over No. 2 seed Mercer. Wofford had 18 of the game's 39 hits. Samford lost twice in a three-game series at Wofford in late April.
ASUN Tournament
Jacksonville State 9, Eastern Kentucky 3: The Gamecocks improved to 2-0 in pool play by pounding out 13 hits in the convincing win at Deland, Florida.
For the second consecutive game, the Gamecocks received a strong pitching performance. Starter Jake Peppers allowed four hits and three unearned runs while striking out eight in 6.2 innings. Austin Cornelius finished the game, allowing just one hit in 2.1 innings.
Javon Hernandez had two hits, including a home run and four RBI. Derrick Jackson had three hits and scored a run.
Jacksonville State's final pool play game comes on Friday at 6 p.m. CT against Austin Peay, which is 0-2 in pool play.
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