SAVANNAH, Ga.- There is a old saying that goes "in order to be the best, you have to beat the best."

For Savannah State, this cliche lived up to its billing on Tuesday afternoon, as the Tigers took down Tampa 7-0 at Tiger Field.

Tampa, the 2025 NCAA Division II national champion, entered the game ranked number one with a 11-0 record.

The Tigers did their damage to Tampa in the third, fourth and eighth innings.

Gavin Jusino led off the bottom of the third with a single to left field and following a strikeout by Kijani Clarington, Jayden Clark singled to left and Seth Stargell drew a walk to load the bases for Johan Sandoval who hit a single to left field that scored Jusino and Clark for a 2-0 lead.

SSU went ahead 4-0 in the next inning with Tyler Tucker and Jason Ramos hitting singles and Jusino drawing a walk to load the bases for Clarington who responded with a two-run single to left center that sent home Tucker and Ramos.

The score remained the same until the bottom of the eighth when SSU tacked on three more runs on two hits.

Once again, Savannah State filled the base pads as Julian Grier hit a single, Ramos reached base because of an error by the shortstop and Jusino was hit by a pitch. Clarington reached base on a  fielder's choice which allowed Grier to score and Clark followed with a double that plated Ramos and Jusino for a 7-0 margin.

Clark finished the non-conference contest with three hits and two RBI while Clarington drove in three runs and Sandoval had two RBI. Tucker had two hits on the day and Jusino scored twice for the Tigers.

On the mound, SSU used six pitchers to slay their opponents. 

Salvatore Uro pitched three innings and did not allow a run while Noah Brown, Joshua Krutchik, Giovante Tomlins and Aidan Turner all came in a pitched one inning each. Austin McCormack pitched the final two inning and struck out two while giving up two hits. As a unit, the struck out six batters while issuing two walks and nine hits.

The win extends the Savannah State winning streak to eight as they improve to 9-5 overall.

Savannah State will return to conference play with a trip to Atlanta, Georgia to play Morehouse for a three-game series starting with a double-header on February 28 and a single game on March 1.

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