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Savannah State University Athletics

1
4
Lane College LC 13-33
9
Winner Savannah State SSU 30-10
Lane College LC
13-33
4
Final
9
Savannah State SSU
30-10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Lane College LC 0 1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 4 6 2
Savannah State SSU 0 0 0 2 3 2 2 0 X 9 12 0

W: Mann, Andrew (3-4) L: Julian Ortiz (3-9)

Game Recap: Baseball |

No. 2 Tigers Rally, Beat No. 7 Lane To Open SIAC Championship

SSU Set to Face No. 3 Spring Hill Friday Morning

ALBANY, Ga.– Omar Almodovar grabbed the ball out of the dirt after it dropped out of his glove.
 
He saw the runner heading to third and shot a laser beam to Desmore Joseph. Joseph tagged the runner for the final out and Savannah State picked up its first win at the 2023 Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) Championship Tournament, Thursday, beating No. 7 Lane College 9-4.
 
As the Tigers celebrated, Andrew Mann came off the mound and gave Almodovar a big hug. Mann pitched the Tigers to the win with 5.0 innings of excellent relief work. He came in to a tie game in the fifth, gave up two earned runs with one walk and two strikeouts for his third win of the season. 
 
Savannah State, the No. 2 seed, advances in the tournament to a quarterfinal game on Friday. They face No. 3 Spring Hill—the reigning SIAC Champions—at 10 a.m. in game seven of the tournament. Spring Hill beat No. 6 Edward Waters earlier on Thursday, 6-3, in game one of the tournament. 
 
There are four games on Thursday, setting up six games in the quarterfinals on Friday in the double-elimination tournament. Semifinals will be played on Saturday and the championship game is scheduled for Sunday on the campus of Albany State in Albany, Georgia.
 
Savannah State faced some superb pitching from Lane starter Julian Ortiz and struggled in the opening four innings. Ortiz pitched 4.1 innings, giving up three earned runs on five hits with one walk and five strikeouts.
 
The Dragons' offense struck first. They took a 1-0 lead in the second inning and  extended that to 2-0 in the top of the fourth.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Joe Smith was hit with a pitch to reach and pushed to second on a single from Jaden Oden. Cooper LeTellier singled to right, scoring Smith. Later, Jacob Rushin knotted the game up at 2-2 with a single to short that scored Oden.
 
Savannah State took the lead the next inning. Andrai Wright singled through the right side, scoring Smith and Gabriel Patxot. Later, Wright scored on an error to lift SSU to a 5-2 lead for an advantage they would not relinquish.
 
The Tigers tacked on two more runs in the sixth and two more in the seventh for a 9-3 lead into the final two innings. Lane attempted a late rally, getting runners on in the eighth and scoring a single run in the ninth.
 
Savannah State racked up 12 hits in the win. Tyler Green led the Tigers, going 2-for-3 at the plate with a double. Oden, Rushin, and Patxot were all 2-for-4 on the day. Wright was 2-for-5 with a team-high four RBI on the day.
 
Jose Santiago opened the day on the mound for SSU. He pitched 4.0 innings, allowing two earned runs on two hits with four walks and two strikeouts.
 
Savannah State faced Spring Hill in a three-game series early in the regular season. They lost the first game 5-12 and won the next two 3-0, and 9-7.
 
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