ALBANY, Ga.- D'Sean Prinkleton's RBI single to center field in the 11th inning helped fourth-seeded Savannah State to a 4-3 victory over fifth-seeded Miles in the opening round of the 2024 Cricket SIAC Baseball Championship. The game was played at Albany State's West Baseball Complex.
 
Prinkleton hit a RBI double down the left field line in the first inning to give the Tigers a 1-0 lead.
 
Miles struck back with a pair of runs in the third and another in the sixth.
 
Down 3-1, Savannah State cut their deficit to one after a RBI single by Hunter Bradshaw in the seventh inning.
 
SSU tied the score in the eighth when Jason Miller singled and later scored on a sacrifice fly by Addrian McNeal Jr.
 
In the 11th inning, Jadon Oden drew a walk and McNeal and Kendal Spencer both reached base on throwing errors to load the bases for Prinkleton who hit a single to center field that allowed Oden to score.
 
Both teams made two errors and SSU out-hit the Bears 8 to 7. Savannah State stranded a dozen runners on base while Miles left eight men on base.
 
Prinkleton had two hits and two RBI for the Tigers. Desmore Joseph II also had a pair of hits.Oden, McNeal, Spencer and Miller all crossed home plate for Savannah State.
 
Brayden Thomas was the winning pitcher. Thomas pitched 2.1 innings in relief and struck out four batters.
 
Jose Santiago opened the game on the mound for SSU and pitched 6.2 innings and recorded four strikeouts. Gregory Gonzalez Jr pitched 2.1 innings in relief and struck out three.
 
Savannah State (29-13) will play top seeded Albany State on May 3 at 2 p.m.
 
During the regular season, the Rams won the three-game series with SSU, 2-1.
 
Albany State defeated SSU 6-4 in Savannah on April 19. The following day, the Rams won the first game of a double-header 4-2 while Savannah State closed the series with a 15-5 win.