May 24, 2009

The Southern Jaguars won the SWAC Baseball Championship with a 12-10 win over Alcorn State.

Scoring all its runs in the first four innings, Southern (30-15) took the lead for good with a four-run third and a three-run fourth. Brad McDavid’s three-run double in the third inning helped the Jaguars to a 9-6 lead after three innings. Todd Stevenson’s three-run homer in the fourth inning gave Southern a 12-6 lead after 3 ½ innings.

However, the Braves (29-19) battled back and chipped away as they did all week in bouncing back from a tournament-opening loss to win four consecutive games to earn a title game berth. Alcorn State scored single runs in fourth and fifth innings to cut the deficit to 12-8.

In the eighth, RBIs by Adrian Bowens and Jabari Graham brought the Braves to within 12-10 heading into the ninth.

Quintillius Billings led off the Braves’ ninth with single but Southern reliever Daniel Garcia induced Eduardo Gonzalez into a double play. Alcorn’s Kenneth Rowan then singled to right to again bring the tying run to the plate, but Rowan was forced on a fielder’s choice at second base to end the game.

Southern pitcher Jarrett Maloy was named Most Valuable Player, going 2-0 in tournament play.

Retiring Alcorn State head coach Willie “Rat” McGowan Sr., winner of over 700 career games in his career, was denied the SWAC Title in his final game as head coach. Southern won its 26^th conference baseball championship and first since 2005.

2009 SWAC All-Tournament Team

David Arrendondo, Texas Southern

Manny Kumar, Grambling State

Charles Derkowski, Texas Southern

Milt Barney, Grambling State

Jesse Olivar, Southern

Jamaal Thelwell, Jackson State

Jerome McCollum, Univ. Arkansas-Pine Bluff

Brad McDavid, Southern

James Armstrong, Southern

Jabari Graham, Alcorn State

Joshua Brufield, Alcorn State

Most Valuable Player: Jarrett Maloy, Southern