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The Tuskegee University Baseball team would share something in common with the Seattle Seahawks on Super Bowl Sunday: complete domination of their opposition. The Golden Tigers used the most high-profile day of the winter as their opening day of the 2014 baseball season, while picking up consecutive wins of 11-1 and 16-4 over longtime SIAC rival Morehouse College. The pair of victories leave TU unblemished heading into Wednesday afternoon's game against Columbus State.
In the opening game,
Cameron Duncan went 2-for-4 with an RBI, bringing in
Cash Oliver to extend the lead to 8-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning. He would later get a run of his own on a Morehouse balk in the bottom of the sixth inning.
Alexander Henderson went 2-for-3, while also scoring a run after
Brandon Mapp was hit by a pitch with bases loaded in the bottom of the fifth inning.
Morehouse committed five total errors in the first game, as Tuskegee was able to score in every inning on offense with the exception of the second. Mapp scored as
Cash Oliver grounded out to the shortstop in the opening inning to put Tuskegee on the board, before
Timothy Brock, Jr. hit a sacrifice fly RBI to bring in
Danny Barnes to push the lead to 2-0 after the first inning. Morehouse would get their lone run of the game in the top of the third inning, when Xzadrean Gladney hit an RBI single to bring in Ryan Christian. But, the Golden Tigers would counter when Barnes picked up his second run of the game in the bottom of the third by stealing home to extend the lead to 3-1.
Tuskegee scored five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. The bases were loaded as Mapp was walked, bringing in
Gene Moody on an unearned run. Then, Oliver essentially made the game-ending play, as he knocked in a three-RBI double to push the lead to 7-1.
Cameron Summers picked up the first pitching win of the season for TU, as he struck out four batters in three innings pitched, allowing three hits, one run and two base on balls while facing 14 batters. Matthew Flowers picked up the loss for Morehouse, allowing seven runs on three hits. He also walked five batters, as he teammates were responsible for four of the five errors in his 3 1/3 innings pitched.
In the second game, the Golden Tigers scored more runs in the opening inning than Morehouse did in the entire game. Duncan was a perfect 3-for-3, scoring two runs and was also responsible for a couple of RBIs. In his only at-bat in the top of of the sixth inning, Henderson hit the first homerun of the season for the Golden Tigers, crushing a three-run shot just inside the left field pole, bringing in
Travais Hylton and
Bradley Thomas for the final runs of the day.
Moody would get the action started in the high-scoring first inning, bringing in Mapp on a sacrifice fly RBI to center field. Barnes scored yet another run on an RBI single from Oliver, then he would score on a fielding error by the first baseman. Thomas hit a two-RBI single to score Duncan and
Samuel Rodney to end the first inning of the second game.
Tuskegee would score a minimum of two runs in every inning of the second game, negating four late runs by the Maroon Tigers between the fourth and sixth innings in the process. Even in the innings in which Morehouse managed to score, Tuskegee outscored their rivals by a score of 7-4.
John Bryant picked up the pitching win for the Golden Tigers in the second game, allowing no runs and one walk on two hits. He also struck out three of the 12 batters that he faced in three innings of work. Patrick Dickerson picked up the loss for the Maroon Tigers, allowing nine runs in just two innings.
Tuskegee will try for three straight against a Colubus State team that went 1-2 during their recent series at West Alabama. The Cougars won the first game 4-1, before dropping consecutive games on the road by scores of 2-1 and 4-2. First pitch is set for 2:00 p.m. Wednesday at Paterson Field.