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Savannah State University Athletics

1
0
Virginia State VSU 0-1
12
Winner Savannah State SSU 1-0
Virginia State VSU
0-1
0
Final
12
Savannah State SSU
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Virginia State VSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 1
Savannah State SSU 0 3 0 3 2 1 3 12 11 0

W: Showalter, Jared (1-0) L: Robert Hatcher (0-1)

12
Winner Virginia State VSU 3-1
4
Savannah State SSU 1-1
Winner
Virginia State VSU
3-1
12
Final
4
Savannah State SSU
1-1
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Virginia State VSU 3 0 0 2 1 0 1 3 2 12 16 1
Savannah State SSU 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 1 0 4 5 4

W: Joseph Hastings (1-0) L: Santiago, Jose (0-1)

0
Virginia State VSU 3-2
20
Winner Savannah State SSU 2-1
Virginia State VSU
3-2
0
Final
20
Savannah State SSU
2-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Virginia State VSU 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 3
Savannah State SSU 3 0 5 3 5 4 X 20 17 0

W: Peele, Enrico (1-0) L: J Crawley (0-1)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Baseball Earns Two Routs To Open Season

SAVANNAH, Ga.– Ranked Savannah State baseball opened the 2023 schedule this past weekend with a three-game series against Virginia State.
 
The Tigers took two games in the series, racking up a combined 32 runs—winning game one 12-0 and game three 20-0—in two routs of the Trojans. They lost the middle game, 12-4.
 
In game one of the series, on Saturday, starting pitcher Jared Showalter showed up with the heat. The senior right-hander pitched a one-hit, 5.0 innings, recording seven strikeouts against 16 batters with no walks.
 
Returning from injury last season, Andrew Mann cleaned up the final two innings for Savannah State. He allowed one hit, no runs with two strikeouts against six batters.
 
On the other side of the ball, the Tigers' bats were hot all day. Lead-off man—and last year's Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Player of the Year—Joe Smith went 2-for-4 on the day.
 
Shortstop Gabriel Patxot was perfect at the plate, going 3-for-3. Newcomer Jake Grubesic was 2-for-4 as well and Jaden Oden went 2-for-2.  The Tigers racked up 10 hits in the 12-0 win.
 
In game two of the series on Sunday—the first game of a doubleheader—starting pitcher Jose Santiago struggled at the mound.
 
Virginia State got two runners on quickly behind a costly error and a single to center. Ricky Jones blasted a high ball to left field that sailed over the head of Grubesic. The ball hit the fence as the bases cleared. Before the outfield could recover the ball, Jones made it home for an in-the-park homer.
 
Savannah State struggled to answer the early 3-0 lead. By the sixth, the Trojans had a 6-3 lead en-route to a 12-4 win.
 
Santiago pitched 4.0 innings, allowed three earned runs on seven hits with four strikeouts, facing 20 batters. The Tigers went deep into the bullpen with little luck. Five pitchers combined for the final five innings, allowing seven more earned runs on nine hits with five strikeouts.
 
Solomon Masters pitched 1.1 innings with the most success. He allowed three earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts and one walk.
 
Virginia State put up 16 hits in the game while the Tigers had five and four errors in the loss.
 
1
Andrai Wright and Jake Grubesic celebrate at home plate. 

 
The Trojans celebrated their win over a ranked team a little too early as things got ugly for the visitors in the second game of the doubleheader.
 
Savannah State sent senior ace Enrico Peele to the mound and the Trojans' dugout was quickly quieted. Peele—who led NCAA Division II in wins last year—pitched a dime in game two for his first win of the season.
 
After 5.0 innings on the mound, he allowed no runs on two hits with five strikeouts against 18 batters.
 
On the other side, Savannah State got hot against Virginia State's waning bullpen. Justin Crawley pitched 4.1 innings for Virginia State and the Tigers hit about everything he tossed. They racked up 15 earned runs on 13 hits.
 
Towards the end of the massive 20-0 route, the Tigers started subbing in bench players to get some time at the plate. And they showed out.
 
Cooper LeTellier, the backup first baseman, hit a rare home run in the deep Tiger Baseball Field in the bottom of the fifth, scoring two more for Savannah State.
 
Grubesic was 3-for-3 at the plate while Andrai Wright, the starting first baseman, went 2-for-2 in the win. All told, 10 Tigers recorded hits in the game, as Savannah State racked up 17 in the blowout win.
 
Savannah State closed the series 2-1 overall. The Tigers remain ranked in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's Division II Top 25 and in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) South Region Poll.
 
The Tigers canceled their next home series against Bluefield State, originally slated for Feb. 11-12, due to inclement weather.
 
They host Lane College in a three-game home series, Feb. 18-19, to open the SIAC schedule.
 
First pitch on Saturday, Feb. 18, is set for 1 p.m.
 
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