Golden Lions roll past Bulldogs in SWAC tournament opener

NEW ORLEANS -- The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Baseball advances in the 2016 Southwestern Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament with a 16-6 win over Alabama A&M in seven innings, here Wednesday afternoon at the Wesley Barrow Stadium.

In a contest that saw three, three-run homers with both Aderly Perez and Jaqueese Moore belting homers for the Golden Lions. Perez's three-run shot came in UAPB's half of the second inning, while Moore's came in their half of the sixth.

Cornelius Woods' three-run shot for AAMU came in the top of the first inning for the Bulldogs.

UAPB finished the contest with 17 hits, where AAMU recorded six.

Both Michael Bradley and Perez finished the contest with four hits apiece to lead the Golden Lions from the plate. Also Bradley finished the contest with six RBIs and scoring two runs for UAPB.

Carlton Pepper finished the contest with three hits to lead the Bulldogs.

Humberto Medina (6-5) received the win for UAPB. This Golden Lion hurler pitched five innings, allowing five hits, five earned runs and striking out three in the 25 batters he faced. Blake Estep also toed the rubber for UAPB. He pitched two innings, allowing four hits, one earned run and striking out one in the 10 batters he faced.

Brandon Marsonek (4-12) the AAMU starter went two and two-third innings, allowing 11 hits, 11 earned runs and striking out one in the 20 batters he faced. Caleb Roberts also took to the hill for the Bulldogs. He pitched four innings in relief, allowing eight hits, five earned runs and striking out three in the 23 batters he faced.

AAMU took an early 3-0 lead in the top of the first inning on the Wood homer.

Moore cut AAMU's lead to 3-1 as he scored on a Perez single to left field.
The Golden Lions would then score six runs in their half of the second inning, five in their half of the third, three in the sixth and one in the seventh.

AAMU scored one run in the third, one in the fourth and one in the sixth for the 16-6 finale.

With the win, UAPB raises their record to 22-23, whereas AAMU lowers their record to 13-43.

UAPB will return to action tomorrow, May 19 against Texas Southern in a 3 p.m. winner's bracket game. In their game, TSU defeated Jackson State, 12-2 in their 9 a.m. matchup.

COURTESY UNIVERSITY OF ARKANSAS SPORTS INFORMATION

Pitchers with common name leading Bethune-Cookman into postseason

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- Bethune-Cookman may be at its strongest when Tyler is on the mound.

The question is: which one?

“Tyler Norris has been solid all year and Tyler Krull, a freshman, has stepped up and is doing a great job for us,” said B-CU coach Jason Beverlin as the Wildcats prepared for this week’s MEAC Tournament.

Norris goes into the tournament with a 5-3 record, 5.07 ERA and a team-high 55 strikeouts. The sophomore jumped out to a 3-0 record, but got roughed up in back-to-back starts against North Carolina A&T and Ohio State. He allowed nine earned runs in 3 1/3 innings against the Aggies and seven earned runs in two innings against the Buckeyes.

“I struggled against N.C. A&T and Ohio State, in those two outings, but after that I was able to push through it,” Norris said. “I made a goal to myself and said, ‘That’s not going to happen.’ I just tried to work my ass off the rest of the year and made a point that I wasn’t going to let my team down again.”

He bounced back with two straight wins, including a 6-5 decision over Florida A&M, the defending MEAC Tournament champions.

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Enjoy Jamey Shouppe while you have him, FAMU

COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
Jamey Shouppe Named MEAC Coach of the Year, Dylan Dillard Player of the Year

SAINT PETERSBURG, Florida -- The Florida A&M baseball program hired the right guy to lead their baseball program three years ago. For the second time in his three-year stint with the Rattlers, Jamey Shouppe has been named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Coach of the Year.

Shouppe’s Rattlers won 30 games this year for the first time since 2003. They head into this weekend’s MEAC Conference Tournament as the number one seed after winning more conference games (19) than at any time in program history.

Though their sights are set much higher, If FAMU can win two games this weekend, Shouppe will have won more games in a three-year period than any coach in program history. They are 79-70 since 2014.

Success in any college sport requires two interacting components. First is recruiting quality players (and individuals) to a program. Second is to exert leadership to get talented players to work together toward a common goal.

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2016 FCS vs. FBS: MEAC

PHILADELPHIA, Pennsylvania -- Cinderella is allowed out more often than in the month of March. During college football season, FCS programs are adept at drawing national attention as they seek upsets of the larger FBS.

Many of the games are played during the first few weekends of the season. This year, there are 113 FCS vs. FBS matchups, and the FCS hopes to exceed their nine combined wins from last season.

Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference teams will be involved in 17 of the matchups:

The Matchups - Bethune-Cookman: North Texas (Sept. 10); Delaware State: Missouri (Sept. 24); Florida A&M: Miami of Florida (Sept. 3); Hampton: Old Dominion (Sept. 3); Howard: Maryland (Sept. 3) and Rutgers (Sept. 10); Morgan State: Marshall (Sept. 10) and Army West Point (Nov. 19); North Carolina A&T: Kent State (Sept. 10) and Tulsa (Sept. 17); North Carolina Central: Duke (Sept. 3) and Western Michigan (Sept. 10); Savannah State: Georgia Southern (Sept. 3) and Southern Miss (Sept. 10); South Carolina State: UCF (Sept. 3), Louisiana Tech (Sept. 10) and Clemson (Sept. 17).

Glamour Game - South Carolina State at Clemson. With two NFL Draft selections, SCSU tied for the most from an FCS school this year. But for a gut check, Clemson had nine selections, the second-most in the nation to Ohio State.

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XU's Green chosen ITA/NAIA National Coach of the Year

MOBILE, Alabama — Xavier University of Louisiana's Alan Green was named Monday the Intercollegiate Tennis Coaches Association/NAIA Men's National Coach of the Year for 2016.
     
Green, in his 13th year at Xavier, has led the Gold Rush to a 14-7 record and its highest-ever national ranking, third. The Gold Rush are 4-1 against NAIA top-10 opponents and have a school-record five victories against NCAA Division I opponents, including first-time decisions over Nicholls State and Troy.
     
"I'm very surprised to have won this," Green said. "This award wasn't made possible without the team putting in the work and working hard and all the support staff that we have."
     
This is Green's second ITA National Coach of the Year Award. He won with Xavier's women in 2013.
     
Green received his honor at a banquet honoring the 24 men's teams and 24 women's teams which qualified for the NAIA National Championships. The Gold Rush have a first-round bye and will play at 1 p.m. Wednesday in the round of 16 against Bethany (Kan.) or Westmont. The Gold Nuggets will play in the first round at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday against Northwestern Ohio. Copeland-Cox Mobile Tennis Center is the site of all matches, and admission is free.
     
Xavier's three other ITA Region IV (South) recipients — Loic Didavi (Men's Assistant Coach of the Year), Kyle Montrel (Men's Senior Player of the Year) and Charlene Goreau (Women's Rookie of the Year) — were recognized at the banquet. Those awards were announced April 29. Receiving NAIA Champions of Character awards were Sha'Nel Bruins of the Gold Nuggets and Montrel. Bruins also was recognized as a Daktronics-NAIA Scholar-Athlete.


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
twitter.com/xulagold
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Tuskegee second in attendance in NCAA Division II football

INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana -- For the second consecutive year, and the sixth time in school history, the Tuskegee University football program finished second in attendance in NCAA Division II according to the numbers released by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

Tuskegee, which finished the season 10-3 overall and in the quarterfinals of the DII playoffs, averaged 10,663 fans per game this year in five home games. The largest home game attendance came against Miles in the final regular season game, which also happened to be homecoming, as 28,765 people were inside the gates at Cleve L. Abbott Memorial Alumni Stadium.



The Golden Tigers have finished second six times since the NCAA began calculating numbers in 2003; finishing runner-up in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2014 and 2015. They have recorded the highest attendance in the nation three times (2008, 2009 and 2013) and finished in the top three 12 of a possible 13 times.

Tuskegee had two of the highest attended games in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) – which led the country in attendance for the 13th consecutive year - this season. The game against Miles was the highest attended game in the conference, while the second-highest attended game came against Morehouse in Columbus when 23,345 attended the Tuskegee-Morehouse Classic.

Year	Finish	Total Number	Average per Game
2015	2nd	53,313	10,663
2014	2nd	49.799	9,960
2013	1st	44,861	14,954
2012	3rd	43,477	10,869
2011	2nd	45,832	11,458
2010	6th	59,001	9,834
2009	1st	43,658	14,553
2008	1st	60,400	12,080
2007	2nd	65,593	13,118
2006	2nd	55,979	11,195
2005	2nd	45,231	11,307
2004	numbers unavailable
2003	3rd	43,856	10,964

For more information on Tuskegee University athletics, visit GoldenTigerSports.com. Fans can also find the Golden Tigers on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, YouTube and Facebook by searching for Tuskegee University Athletics. 

COURTESY TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS

Former Jackson State football coach Bob Hill dies

JACKSON, Mississippi -- The roll call of Jackson State players who played for Robert "Bob" Hill is quite extraordinary.

There's Walter Payton, Jackie Slater and Robert Brazile just to name a few. They were all Tigers legends in their own right.

And they were developed under Hill, who died Tuesday morning, according to a Jackson State spokesperson. The cause of his death wasn't immediately known.

"I think in our lifetime, the measure of a man is if at the end you could say you made a difference in one person's life, then your life wasn't in vain," said JSU golf coach Eddie Payton, who also played for Hill. "Bob Hill made a difference in hundreds of young men's (lives). Hopefully he'll never be forgotten. I know he'll never be forgotten in the Payton family and shouldn't be here at Jackson State, which was his second family."

Hill, 81, served as JSU's coach from 1971-76 and won 44 of his 60 games as head coach. His 74 percent winning percentage is the best of any coach in program history.

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MEAC Announces 2016 Baseball All-Conference Honors

NORFOLK, Virginia  — Florida A&M infielder Dylan Dillard was named the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Baseball Player of the Year, the conference announced on Tuesday.Danny Rodriguez, of Bethune-Cookman, was selected Rookie of the Year, while Norfolk State’s Matt Outman earned Pitcher of the Year honors. Florida A&M’s Jamey Shouppe received Coach of the Year accolades.

All awards are voted on by the conference’s head baseball coaches and sports information directors.

Dillard started 48 games and batted .335 in 167 at-bats. He finished the season with 56 hits, including eight doubles, six triples, six home runs, 53 runs batted in and 46 runs scored. He led the conference in RBIs and triples. Dillard was a two-time MEAC Player of the Week honoree.

Rodriguez, a two-time MEAC Rookie of the Week honoree, led the Wildcats in RBIs (40). He recorded 60 hits, including nine doubles and seven home runs, with 29 runs scored. Defensively, he notched a .988 fielding percentage.

Outman, the 2015 Pitcher of the Year and 2016 Preseason Pitcher of the Year, appeared in 12 games and registered seven wins, including five shutouts, in 79.0 innings pitched. He led the conference in innings pitched, batters struckout looking (30) and wins. He ranks second in the MEAC in earned run average (2.62) and runs allowed (26).

Shouppe earned Coach of the Year honors after leading the Rattlers to a 19-5 conference mark and 30-19 overall, along with clinching the number one seed from the southern division in the upcoming 2016 MEAC Baseball Championship. This season marks Florida A&M’s first 30-win season since 2003.

Joining Dillard and Outman on the first team are Jonathan Mauricio (NSU), Andrew Vernon (NCCU), Alex Mauricio (NSU), Clay Middleton (B-CU), Brian Davis (FAMU), Alec Wong (FAMU), Ben Ellzey (FAMU), Milton Rivera (NCAT), Nathan Bond (B-CU), Carlos Ortiz (NCCU) and Michael Cruz (B-CU).

The 2016 MEAC Baseball Championship tournament gets underway Thursday, May 19 beginning at 12 p.m. at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland. A complete tournament bracket can be found on www.MEACsports.com.

2016 Baseball All-MEAC Teams

As voted on by the conference’s head baseball coaches and sports information directors

Player of the Year: Dylan Dillard, Florida A&M

Rookie of the Year: Danny Rodriguez, Bethune-Cookman

Pitcher of the Year: Matt Outman, Norfolk State

Coach of the Year: Jamey Shouppe, Florida A&M

First Team

Pos.	Name	School	Class	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown
P	Matt Outman	Norfolk State	r-Sr.	6-3	210	Chesapeake, Va.
P	Jonathan Mauricio	Norfolk State	Jr.	6-2	175	Midlothian, Va.
RP	Andrew Vernon	North Carolina Central	Sr.	6-4	240	Raleigh, N.C.
RP	Alex Mauricio	Norfolk State	So.	6-0	175	Midlothian, Va.
C	Clay Middleton	Bethune-Cookman	r-Jr.	6-0	205	Oviedo, Fla.
1B	Brian Davis	Florida A&M	So.	5-10	195	Pensacola, Fla.
2B	Alec Wong	Florida A&M	Sr.	5-6	160	Rockledge, Fla.
3B	Ben Ellzey	Florida A&M	Jr.	6-0	205	Ocala, Fla.
SS	Milton Rivera	North Carolina A&T State	So.	5-9	175	Humacao, Puerto Rico
OF	Nathan Bond	Bethune-Cookman	Sr.	6-2	195	Orlando, Fla.
OF	Dylan Dillard	Florida A&M	Gr.	6-1	205	Kissimmee, Fla.
OF	Carlos Ortiz	North Carolina Central	Jr.	5-9	197	Cleveland, Ohio
UTL	Michael Cruz	Bethune-Cookman	Jr.	5-11	210	Aguadilla, Puerto Rico

Second Team

Pos.	Name	School	Class	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown
P	Ricky Page	Florida A&M	Sr.	5-11	185	Ocala, Fla.
P	Tyler Norris	Bethune-Cookman	So.	6-1	160	Coral Springs, Fla.
RP	Joseph Calamita	Bethune-Cookman	So.	6-0	175	Lake Worth, Fla.
RP	Michael Parmentier	Norfolk State	So.	6-0	170	Suffolk, Va.
C	Adan Ordonez	North Carolina A&T State	So.	5-7	185	Clermont, Fla.
1B	Danny Rodriguez	Bethune-Cookman	Fr.	6-3	240	Pembroke Pines, Fla.
2B	Mike Escanilla	Maryland Eastern Shore	Sr.	5-7	150	Waldorf, Md.
3B	Ellington Hopkins	North Carolina Central	Jr.	5-6	174	Lansing, N.Y.
SS	Tom Prospero	North Carolina Central	Jr.	6-0	180	Batavia, N.Y.
OF	Austin Bentley	Delaware State	So.	5-11	205	Waldorf, Md.
OF	Denathan Dukes	Norfolk State	Jr.	6-2	180	Woodbridge, Va.
OF	Marlon Gibbs	Florida A&M	r-Sr.	5-9	185	Orange Park, Fla.
UTL	James Dey	North Carolina Central	Sr.	5-10	198	Charlotte, N.C.

Third Team

Pos.	Name	School	Class	Ht.	Wt.	Hometown
P	Alex Dandridge	North Carolina Central	Sr.	6-3	204	Arlington, Texas
P	Chase Jarrell	Florida A&M	Jr.	6-3	175	Winter Springs, Fla.
RP	Devin Repine	Maryland Eastern Shore	r-Sr.	6-9	250	Salisbury, Md.
RP	Ryan McCranie	Savannah State	Sr.	6-2	220	Covington, Ga.
C	Jacky Miles, Jr.	Florida A&M	Jr.	6-0	205	Graceville, Fla.
1B	Kyle Clary	North Carolina A&T State	Jr.	5-11	175	Lakewood, Calif.
2B	Jonathan Moore	Savannah State	Sr.	6-1	160	Cairo, Ga.
3B	Bryant Miranda	Coppin State	Jr.	5-10	175	Cidra, Puerto Rico
SS	Demetrius Sims	Bethune-Cookman	r-So.	6-2	200	Ann Arbor, Mich.
OF	George Dragon	Coppin State	Sr.	6-0	215	Ashtabula, Ohio
OF	Zachary Marszal	North Carolina Central	Jr.	6-0	211	Cary, Ill.
OF	Rakeem Quinn	Bethune-Cookman	Sr.	5-10	205	Port St. Joe, Fla.
UTL	Kyle Vaas	Norfolk State	Sr.	6-0	205	Chesterfield, Va.

MEAC MEDIA RELATIONS

MEAC Announces 2016 Baseball Championship Seedings

MEAC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP BRACKET

NORFOLK, Virginia – The Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) will host the 2016 MEAC Baseball Championship beginning Thursday, May 19 through Sunday, May 22 at the Delmarva Shorebirds Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Md. The Norfolk State Spartans and the Florida A&M Rattlers will enter tournament play as the number one seeds.

Norfolk State clinched the northern divisional title with a 19-5 conference record, including sweeping Coppin State to end the regular season. The Spartans are 10-3 in their last 13 games and 27-19 overall heading into the tournament.

Florida A&M enters tournament play with a 19-5 MEAC record and a 30-19 overall mark for their first 30-win regular season since 2003. The Rattlers secured the top spot winning six of their final eight games, including a sweep of North Carolina A&T State on the final weekend.

Delaware State (13-10) took the number two seed in the north, while Coppin State (8-16) earned the third seed from the north.

Bethune-Cookman (17-7) secured the number two seed in the south, and North Carolina Central (11-13) took the third seed from the south.

Bethune-Cookman (S2) will face Coppin State (N3) in the opening game at 12 p.m. on Thursday. Delaware State (N2) will meet North Carolina Central (S3) in game two, beginning at 3:30 p.m. The losers of the first two games on Thursday will play an elimination game at 7 p.m. that night.

The Spartans will take on the winner of Bethune-Cookman and Coppin State at 3:30 p.m. on Friday, while the Rattlers tangle with the winner of Delaware State and North Carolina Central at 12 p.m. on Friday. A third game will take place at 7 p.m. between the lowest seeded loser from Friday’s first games and the winner of the 7 p.m. game from Thursday.

Only the top three teams from each division will compete for the tournament title. Maryland Eastern Shore, Savannah State and North Carolina A&T State were eliminated from conference play based on its regular season finish.

The championship finale is set for Sunday, May 22 beginning at 1 p.m.

The 2016 MEAC Baseball Championship tournament begins Thursday, May 19 at 12 p.m. at the Delmarva Shorebirds Perdue Stadium in Salisbury, Maryland. Admission is $8 per day or $25 for the four-day tournament. A complete tournament bracket can be found on www.MEACsports.com.

NORTHERN DIVISION
School
Conference Record/Overall Record

1. Norfolk State  19-5/27-19

2. Delaware State  13-10/13-34

3. Coppin State  8-16/12-36

SOUTHERN DIVISION
School
Conference Record/Overall Record

1. Florida A&M 19-5/30-19

2. Bethune-Cookman 17-7/25-25

3. North Carolina Central 11-13/24-28

COURTESY MEAC MEDIA RELATIONS

Claflin baseball to play West Florida to start NCAA regional play

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- The Claflin University baseball team learned on Sunday night where it will continue postseason play.

The Panthers will enter the 2016 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship Regionals as the No. 7 seed and will face the No. 2 seed (West Florida) in the South Region in a game this Thursday, May 19 at 3 p.m.

It will be the opening game of the 2016 NCAA Division II Baseball Regionals. The regional rounds of the double-elimination tournament will run Thursday-Monday, May 19-23, 2016.

Claflin, who received the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) automatic bid after defeating Stillman College twice in the conference tournament, will enter the tournament with a 24-27 overall record.

The Panthers are a true underdog-type team in the field, carrying the only losing record out of the 56 teams in the tournament.

West Florida enters the tournament with a 33-15 overall record.

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Claflin University Panthers Captures SIAC Championship Through Building Process

JAMES RANDALL
HEAD BASEBALL COACH
CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY PANTHERS

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina -- Winning a baseball championship, regardless of the level of competition, is special. What makes the feat more amazing is accomplishing it for the first time.

 
The Claflin University baseball team recently experienced that felling.  The Panthers brought home the program's first-ever Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Championship.  Claflin swept through the double-elimination tournament, winning four straight games.
 
Reginald Rogers' two-out single drove in Jeturi Brown with the winning run as the Panthers upended overall #1 seed Stillman College 8-7 in 10 innings.
 
The championship was nine years in the making for Claflin Coach James Randall, who inherited only nine players when he took over the program.  The former collegiate standout and head coach at Grambling University, was drafted and played in the Minor League with the California Angles.  He also spent time in the minors and major leagues with Chicago White Sox.
 
Under Randall's guidance, the Panthers improved each season, claiming a division title and several divisional runner-up finishes.  All that hard work came to past this season, according to Randall.
 
"It was a long time coming, but we accomplished it this season, meaning an SIAC championship," Randall said. "It was a combination of several things, starting with peaking at the right time."
 
"As a coach, it's what you prepare for during the regular season. We played a tough non-conference schedule, taking our bumps and bruises along the way. It made our team more productive down the stretch, especially in the SIAC tournament."
 
In the tournament, Randall's team exemplified the four important tools of the game: pitching, hitting, scoring opportunities and playing solid defense.
 
The Panthers pitching were superior as Randall used nine in the tournament. The group gave up 32 hits that resulted in 24 runs, of which 19 were earned.
Lyndale Morley pitched a complete game in Claflin 9-6 win over Stillman in the semifinals.  The tournament's most outstanding player, allowed 11 hits, but held the high-powered Stillman offense to just five earned runs while fanning eight batters.
 
Offensively, the Panthers produced 44 runs off 53 hits and batted .351 as a team during the tournament. They also drew 29 base-on-balls.
 
Rogers led the way, going seven-for-18 with 6 RBI's. Morley was six-for-12 with 4 RBI's, while Elliott Melton had seven hits.
 
As for defense, Claflin committed only seven errors.
 
Now that the SIAC championship trophy is displayed in the athletic department case, it's back to business for Randall. The focus is on the upcoming NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament.
 
"It's back to business for us," Randall said. "I gave them [our players] some time off, but it's time to start preparing for the NCAA Tournament. We will work on the basics and fundamentals of the game."
 
Claflin will represent the SIAC in the upcoming national tournament. Pairings will be announced Sunday (May 15) during the selection show via NCAA.com at 10 p.m.

COURTESY CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Alabama State faces #1 Florida in NCAA softball tournament

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- It's Florida. 
 
With members of the Alabama State softball team watching from the ASU Football Stadium's club lounge, the Lady Hornets learned where their next path would take them in the NCAA Softball Tournament. 
 
The NCAA Selection Show revealed that the Alabama State softball team will be headed to the NCAA Regional Tournament in a four-team grouping in Gainesville starting Friday with a match up against the nation's two-time defending champions and overall No. 1 seed Gators at 2:30 ET/1:30 CT.
 
The game will air on the SEC Network. 
 
Joining ASU and Florida will be two other teams from the Sunshine State: Central Florida and Florida Atlantic.
 
ASU was one of five teams from the state of Alabama to make the tournament. 
 
The others were No. 4 Auburn, No. 6 Alabama, Jacksonville State and Samford. 
 
Alabama State is one of five teams, who will be making their first appearance in the tournament joining Butler, Samford, Ole Miss and CSU Bakersfield. 
 
"We're just really excited about seeing our name flash up on the screen after playing a great weekend of softball in the tournament, ASU head coach Chris Steiner-Wilcoxson told WSFA sports reporter Maria Martin. 
 
The 64-team field was selected from 283 NCAA Division I institutions sponsoring the sport of softball.
 
Of the 64 teams, 32 teams received automatic qualification while the remaining best 32 teams were selected on an at-large basis. Sixteen teams were seeded and each of the seeded teams earned the right to host at one of the regional sites.
 
At each campus site, a four-team, double-elimination tournament will be conducted and the 16 winning teams will advance to the Super Regionals.
 
The Lady Hornets made school history after winning its first SWAC softball championship by defeating Texas Southern 18-8 in the SWAC Championship on Saturday in Irondale.
 
It was the most runs that ASU had scored in a game since March 8, 2008 when it put up 18 runs against Arkansas-Pine Bluff. 
 
Alabama State (28-25) pounded out a SWAC Championship game record 19 hits and had an unforgettable second inning in which the team sent 14 batters to the plate as part of a nine-run inning.

COURTESY ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS