Southern loses pitcher Tyler Robinson ahead of SWAC tournament

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- After a tumultuous regular season for the Southern baseball team, the Jaguars will travel to New Orleans for the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament without one of their top pitchers.

Freshman Tyler Robinson was ruled academically ineligible after falling below the required 12 hours for student-athletes as Southern heads into the conference tournament Wednesday. The Jaguars will open play in the double-elimination event with two-time defending tournament champion Jackson State at 9 a.m. at Wesley Barrow Stadium.

“Certainly we’re going to have to go a different route than we planned to,” Southern coach Roger Cador said Monday. “When the team is depending on someone and they’re not around, it does a disservice to the team. We’re hoping now the next guy steps up and does the job.”

Cador said he had not decided who will take Robinson’s spot in the rotation. Robinson (5-1) was second among Southern starters with a 3.18 ERA. He allowed 33 runs on 69 hits while striking out 30 batters.

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