Texas Southern Tigers take Series from Division Leader

PINE BLUFF, Arkansas  -- It took extra innings, but the Texas Southern Tigers got the job done on the road and walked away with the series win against Arkansas-Pine Bluff.

The entire series was a war but the major battle happened in game three where the Tigers clawed their way to a 9-8 win.

"It was truly a total team effort," said head coach Michael Robertson.

TSU started in a hole after UAPB scored 2 runs in the bottom of the first inning.  The Tigers got on the board in the fourth inning when Zach Welz hit an RBI single to left center field. TSU was down 2-1.

Texas Southern tied the game 2-2 in the seventh inning when Chris Lopez hit a sacrifice fly to center field.

"It was a pitcher's duel for 7 innings and a slugfest the last 3 innings…a see-saw battle between two clubs that are evenly matched in every statistical area that matters," Robertson said.

TSU took their first lead of the game when they scored 2 runs in the eighth inning.  Terry Edwards hit a 2 run single to first base for a 4-2 advantage.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff responded and picked up 3 runs in the bottom of the inning to go up 5-4.

The Tigers tied the game 5-5 in the top of the ninth inning when Jerry Ford, II hit an RBI single to right field.

TSU held off a bases loaded threat by UAPB which sent the game into extra innings.

The Tigers' bats came alive in the tenth inning where they scored 4 runs.  Andrew Garza hit a 2 run single; Marquis Webb hit a sacrifice fly to left field and Garza scored on a sacrifice bunt by Chris DeLeon.

Arkansas-Pine Bluff scored 3 runs in the bottom of the inning but it was not enough, and TSU took the series 2-1.

This game was not won on today's actions alone.  It was set up by TSU's victorious play the day before.

"In the third game, we used 5 pitchers and I believe everybody got an outing and everybody was used," said pitching coach Ehren Moreno. "Because Darius [McClelland] pitched a complete game [Saturday], we were able to unload our bullpen today.  Without Darius throwing that complete game, we would not have been able to matchup against Pine Bluff like we did to win."

Michael Starkey started for the Tigers and pitched 6 innings with 4 strikeouts, 3 hits, 3 walks and 2 runs.  Larry Romero got the win after 2.1 innings on the mound, 3 strikeouts, 5 hits, 3 earned runs and 2 walks.  Rios Ryan picked up the save.

The Tigers had 13 hits and 8 men left on base.  Ford led the Tigers with 4 hits.  Edwards and Garza each had 2 RBIs.

"I thought our team took one huge step in the right direction by defeating a team that not only can pitch well and make plays, but they are very tough to beat at home," Robertson said.  "We showed a lot of heart to fight back late in the ball game to tie, take the lead, lose the lead, tie it and win it in the tenth."

The Tigers will play Dallas Baptist and Arlington Baptist College on the road this week before returning to conference play against Grambling State on Saturday, April 5th & 6th at MacGregor Park.    

Box Score  

Contact: Rodney Bush TSU Sports Information Director
COURTESY TEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION