March 7, 2005

For More Information, Contact: Keith Gentry (901) 333-4114 / Kimberly Stark (901) 333-4023

SOUTHWEST BASEBALL TEAM WINS ONE OF THREE AT JACKSON STATE

The Southwest baseball traveled to Jackson, Tennessee over the weekend for a three-game conference series and came back to Memphis with one win and two losses. On Friday, the Saluqis scored 11 runs on 13 hits but it wasn’t enough as Jackson State won a slugfest 21-11. In Saturday’s doubleheader, Southwest won the first game 7-6 in ten innings before losing the second game 2-1.

In the series opener on Friday, Jeremy Finney led the Saluqis with three hits, a double, and a run batted in. Several other Southwest players had multiple hits in the game – Brit Vincent (2 hits, home run, 2 RBI), Matt Akin (2 hits, double, RBI), and Ryan Orr (2 hits, double, RBI). Chris Rogers also hit a home run in the game for the Saluqis.

There were two nail-biters on Saturday. In game one, the Saluqis came back from a 6-2 deficit, scoring four runs in the top of the seventh to tie the game at 6-6, sending the game into extra innings. The game remained tied until the tenth, when Brit Vincent led off the inning with a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Brendan Murphy, to third on a single by Chris Rogers, and scored the go-ahead run on a wild pitch. Ivan Nails pitched an outstanding game in relief of starter Shane Jackson, allowing only base-runner (an infield hit) and no runs in 4-1/3 innings, earning the first win of his collegiate career. Finney was again the top hitter for Southwest with a single, triple, and 3 RBI.

In the series finale, the Saluqis took a 1-0 lead in the second as Matt Akin led off with a double and later scored on a ground ball out by Dustin Turner. After Jackson State tied the game at 1-1 in the third, the game remained tied until the bottom of the sixth when Jackson State scored the go-ahead run on a throwing error. Southwest right-hander Josh Cowan pitched his best game of the young season, allowing only two hits and no earned runs in six innings.

The Saluqis record now stands at 10-9 overall and 4-5 in the Tennessee Junior and Community College Athletic Association. The team returns to action on Tuesday, March 8, when Southwest travels to Senatobia, Mississippi to take on Northwest Mississippi Community College in a 1 p.m. doubleheader. This weekend, the Saluqis host Motlow State Community College in a three-game TJCCAA series at Tony Gagliano Memorial Field. The two teams will play a single game on Friday, March 11 at 3 p.m., followed by a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, March 12.