Diamond Tigers need weekend sweep to solidify SIAC seeding
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (goldentigersports.com) — As the season begins to wind down, the Tuskegee University baseball team finds itself in a battle for seeding in the tournament and need a series win this weekend to earn a spot in the SIAC Championships. The Golden Tigers can all but lock up their spot in the championship tournament with a sweep against their opponent this week, LeMoyne-Owen College.
Tuskegee (9-24, 5-10 SIAC) and LeMoyne-Owen (7-29, 5-10 SIAC) were scheduled to meet back in mid-March but rain forced the cancellation of the series. So now the two teams meet in a rare mid-week conference series with a bid in the championships on the line.
The two teams are currently tied for fourth in the standings, trailing Kentucky State by two games in the win column. Although they will be battling for a spot in the tournament, they are still not out of the hunt for the third seed in the West Division. The Magicians have the tiebreaker over Kentucky State, while Kentucky State holds the tiebreaker over Tuskegee. However, if it came to the third tiebreaker – Tuskegee has the advantage over both of their opponents due to an early season win over Stillman.
The Golden Tigers and LeMoyne-Owen will hit the field in a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon beginning at 3 pm, and will finish the series up on Wednesday with a 10 am first pitch.
The rotation for the mid-week series has not been set as of yet for Tuskegee, however, they have a pair of pitchers who have started conference games who did not see action this weekend. Joseph Mauldin (2-5, 8.02 ERA) and Christopher Emerson (0-4, 16.07 ERA) have each started conference games, and Eugene Mabota (0-3, 8.27 ERA) will also be ready for the mid-week series after going just three innings against Spring Hill this weekend.
Ricky Green continues to lead Tuskegee in hitting as he is batting .318 this season with nine extra-base hits. Ryan Green is hitting .313, while Matthew Reed is hitting .308 through 33 games this season. Jalen Luter continues to lead in the power category with three homeruns, while Elgin Woodside has a team-high 20 RBI.
