SWAC Baseball Championship Preview
SWAC.org
.2013 SWAC Baseball Championship
Jackson State vs Prairie View A&M
WHEN: May 19, 2013
TIME: 2 p.m. (CT)
WHERE: LaGrave Field - Fort Worth, Texas
BROADCAST: ESPN3 (LIVE) / ESPNU (TAPE DELAY)
Play-by-Play: Mike Morgan - Color: Jay Walker
LIVE AUDIO: redpeachsports.com
BREAKING THE TREND
From 1959 - 2004, Southern, Grambling State and Jackson State dominated the SWAC Baseball titles and were the only member institutions to win the crowns. In 2004, Texas Southern snapped the trend on its way to antoher title in 2008.
SWAC Title Count:
Southern (26)
Jackson State (14)
Grambling State (9)
Prairie View A&M (3)
Texas Southern (2)
Alcorn State (1)
ABOUT LAGRAVE FIELD
For the first time in tournament history, LaGrave Field in Fort Worth, Texas will host the SWAC Baseball Tournament.
LaGrave Field opened in 1926. During its existence, LaGrave Field has hosted nearly 50 members of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.The list includes: Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio, Hank Aaron, Sparky Anderson, Yogi Berra, Roy Campanella, Willie Mays, and Don Drysdale.
It is the present-day home of the Fort Worth Cats minor league baseball team. The Cats are members of the United Baseball League. The Cats manager, Jim Essian, is a former teammate of SWAC Hall of Famer, Grambling State's Ralph Garr. Both played with the Chicago White Sox. Garr is an inductee of the 2013 College Baseball Hall of Fame.
ABOUT JSU (33-20)
Jackson State University owns 14 SWAC titles and the first championship appearance since 2000. Head Coach Omar Johnson has recorded six 30-plus win seasons during his seven year tenure as head coach of the Tigers.
During the season JSU faced three SWAC Western Division opponents – Texas Southern, Southern and Grambling State. The Tigers finished with a 4-3 record against the SWAC West, which includes conference tournament games.
JSU has gone undefeated in the tournament winning three straight and outscored their opponents 23-9.
For the tournament, Aneko Knowles leads JSU in batting average (.444), Charles Tillery leads the team with two doubles and Stephen Curtis has four RBI. Bryce Taylor and Jose Cruz each have a home run while Fred Hampton is 2-2 in stolen bases.
The Tigers' run in the tourney includes a 5-3 win over Texas Southern (May 15), an 11-2 victory over Alcorn State (May 16) and a 7-4 win over Texas Southern (May 17) to advance to the finals.
JSU pitchers have combine for a team ERA of 1.33 spearheaded by Alexander Juday and Aneko Knowles. Desmond Russell posted two saves.
Mid-way through the season, Desmond Russell was named the SWAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year and to the CBI Louisville Slugger Preseason All-America Team. Russell down with a leg injury during the season and returned to action a few games before the SWAC Tournament.
ABOUT PVAMU (27-26)
After losing to Alabama State, 16-0, to open the 2013 SWAC Baseball Tournament, the Panthers won three-consecutive games.
Starting pitchers, Michael Medina, A.J. Helms, and Johnathan Mata threw complete games to help carry PVAMU to the championship final.
Medina tossed nine innings in an 11-4 win over SWAC Western Division champions, Southern, on May 17. Helms threw a gem (nine innings and one earned run) in a 2-1 win over Alabama State on May 18, and Mata followed with a seven-strikeout performance on May 19 in an 8-3 win over ASU in the semifinal.
PVAMU holds a total of three SWAC baseball titles. Prior to its 7-4 win over Mississippi Valley State on May 20, 2012 for the SWAC Tournament Championship under the helm of head coach Waskyla Cullivan, the Panthers captured SWAC championships in 2006 and 2007 under the direction of current Texas Southern head coach Michael Robertson
The Panthers are 8-2 in the SWAC Tournament under Cullivan in the last two seasons and 9-4 overall.
On the tournament, Trey Price is batting .375 (6-for-16) with five runs scored and three RBI. His batting average trails teammate Jeff Sealy, who his hitting at .438 with one home run, three RBI and three runs scored. Sealy has a .688 slugging percentage and .471 on base percentage.
Andre Oliver is batting .300 with two RBI and is a perfect 3-for-3 on stolen base attempts.
Dominiq Harris leads the tournment with two home runs and has a team-high six RBI with a .600 slugging percentage and 12 total bases.