Back to the Pack; Jags Drop SWAC Matchup Against TSU

Coming off a fourth straight loss to Nichols last Tuesday, the Jags looked to get back to their winning ways in a SWAC matchup against Texas Southern at MacGregor Park in Texas. Despite getting off to a hot start early in the weekend however, the Jags were pushed trying to keep pace with the Tigers.
The first day of the series saw Southern looking to be in prime form behind the play of senior RHP Joseph Battaglia, who is among the top of the SWAC with 4 wins on the season heading into the weekend series.
The Jags and Tigers stood pat as they both kept runs to a minimum in the first five innings of the game. The Jags would get the blood flowing as the game progressed however and put on a dynamic hitting performance in the later innings of the series, recording eleven runs off 6 hits by game’s end. The Jags would run away with game 1 of the series by a score of 11-0.
The rest of the weekend would prove to be a different animal for the Jaguars however as TSU regrouped and showed a stout front coming into game two of the weekend series. A tightly contested game like the first in its early parts, game 2 saw both teams boast a quiet first couple of innings. In the 3rd inning however, TSU took the lead and didn’t look back.
The 5th and 8th innings proved pivotal for the Tigers as they were continually able to get a run advantage over the Jags. The Jaguars would fall in game 2 to the Tigers by a score of 7-9 despite a four hit performance from right fielder Tremaine Smith.
The 3rd game of the series saw much of the same as the Jaguars as the two teams once again engaged in a closely contested bout. The Jaguars saw a strong performance from left fielder J.J. Rollin and center fielder Jaylen Armstrong who recorded 3 and 2 runs on the afternoon respectively.
This offensive outpoor by the Jags came after allowing multiple TSU runs however, as the Jags quickly found themselves playing catch-up. This inconsistency with their ability to get timely runs was noted by Southern head ball coach Chris Crenshaw prior to the weekend series. “Our hitting comes and goes; you try not to have it go as much as it’s comin,” said Crenshaw in an interview via The Advocate.
Despite a flurry of runs from the Jags in the later innings of game however, the cushion made by TSU early in the game made a comeback impossible for the Jags as they fell just short by a score of 9-10.
The Jaguars would now fall to 9-9 in SWAC play, a drastic difference from their dominance in previous years. With much baseball left to played however, the Jaguars will look to bounce back as they travel to Grambling this weekend in an effort to bolster their seeding for the quickly approaching SWAC tournament.