Florida A&M baseball put up its most dominating performance of the season against Jackson State.
On Sunday, April 12, the Rattlers (17-16, 12-3 in SWAC) claimed their road Southwestern Athletic Conference series over the Jackson State Tigers (16-20, 6-9 in SWAC) with a 23-8 rubber match victory at Braddy Field.
With the help of a 14-run sixth inning, FAMU captured a run-rule victory in eight innings.
Jackson McKenzie slammed two homeruns for the Rattlers, while Jay Campbell contributed one. Caden Kresak and Campbell both led FAMU with three hits.
All nine players in FAMU’s hitting lineup got a hit as the Rattlers outhit the Tigers 20-11.
To open the series, Jackson State beat FAMU 5-4 in 11 innings on Friday, April 10. On Saturday, the Rattlers escaped with an 8-7 comeback win in 10 innings.
Pitcher JD Gardner got Saturday’s win, with Campbell being credited for the save. McKenzie picked up Sunday’s win on the mound.
The Rattlers next travel to Jacksonville to face the North Florida Ospreys on Tuesday, April 14.
FAMU then hosts the Mississippi Valley State Delta Devils (9-21, 6-9 in SWAC) on Moore-Kittles Field for a three-game, three-day SWAC series from Friday, April 17, until Sunday, April 19.
With five series remaining, the Rattlers are in a three-way tie for the SWAC’s top spot with Bethune-Cookman and Texas Southern.
As for FAMU softball (23-16, 14-4 in SWAC), it dropped its weekend home SWAC series to Alabama State (16-27, 10-7 in SWAC) on Veronica Wiggins Field.
The Rattlers won Friday’s series opener 7-3, but dropped Saturday’s doubleheader 5-3 and 8-3.
FAMU’s next game is at Jacksonville University (26-15) on Tuesday before the Rattlers travel to Mississippi Valley State (1-32, 0-18 in SWAC) for a three-game SWAC series from Friday to Saturday.
FAMU still holds on to the top spot in the SWAC East.
Gerald Thomas, III, is a multi-time national award-winning reporter for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat.
Follow his award-winning coverage on RattlerNews.com and contact him via email at GDThomas@Tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU baseball shatters scoreboard to claim series over Jackson State
Reporting by Gerald Thomas III, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
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