SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State University has qualified for the 2025 Cricket Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championships, which starts on May 1, and will enter as the third seed.
The Tigers enter the eight-team field after compiling a 24-9 conference record and a 29-12 overall mark.
SSU will play #6 seed Benedict College in the first round on May 1 at 9 a.m. at Luther Williams Field in Macon, Georgia.
During the regular season, Savannah State won two of the three games played against Benedict . The teams split a doubleheader on March 15 with Benedict winning the first game 8-2 while the Tigers won the second game 7-3. SSU closed the weekend series on March 16 with a 5-2 victory.
The winner of the Savannah State vs. Benedict game will face the winner of the contest between #2 seed Edward Waters University and #7 seed Tuskegee University on May 2 at 6 p.m. while the loser of the earlier contests will meet on May 2 at 9 a.m.
SSU lost two of three games to Edward Waters in late March but swept their three-game series against Tuskegee in early April.
Other teams in the SIAC Championships include #1 seed Spring Hill College, #4 seed Albany State University and #5 seed Miles College.
Savannah State is under the direction of first-year head coach Florentino Burgos.
Senior
Kendal Spencer is batting .432 and leads the team in hits (60), triples (5), RBI (51) and stolen bases (30) while freshman
Reginald Tuggle is hitting .364 and leads the Tigers in doubles with 14. Sophomore
Johan Sandoval bats .349 and had a team-leading five home runs.
On the mound,
Brevin Smith has a 5-0 record to go with his 2.27 earned run average. The sophomore had 44 strikeouts in 47.2innings while
Brayden Thomas has a 6-2 record and a 3.30 ERA to compliment his team-leading 66 strikeouts in 79 innings.
Gregorio Gonzalez has a 3-3 record and has struck out 53 batters in 49.2 innings.
SSU received one vote in the latest NCBWA South Region Poll after being ranked #10 the week before.
Savannah State will be seeking their first conference tournament championship since winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament in 2013 and their first SIAC Tournament since 1999. The Tigers won the SIAC baseball tournament championship for a five year stretch from 1995-99
Looking back, SSU was the #4 seed at the 2024 SIAC Championships and made it to the championship game where they lost to Edward Waters but still received the conference automatic bid to the due to Edward Waters being in the final year of their three-year transition to the NCAA from the NAIA.
The championships will be played through May 4 with the final team standing set to be crowned the 2025 SIAC Baseball Tournament Champion and earn the conference's automatic qualifier into the 2024 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.
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