TALLADEGA, Ala. – The Talladega College swept a pair of conference games 8-5 and 24-3 this afternoon against Tougaloo College at home. With the wins, the Tornadoes are now 8-9 on the season and 4-1 in the GCAC while the Bulldogs are 4-14 and 0-2 in the conference.
Talladega is back in action this weekend it hosts Southern University at New Orleans for a three-game series. Game one is slated for Friday at 1 p.m.
Game 1: Talladega 8, Tougaloo 5 – 7 innings
Talladega jumped on the board in the bottom of the first and it all started when
Victor Rivera singled to center and then stole second. He later came around to score off
Miguel Oropeza's RBI single through the left side past the shortstop. With a runner on first and one down now,
Armando Jackson walked to put runners on first and second before being lifted for a pinch runner. Talladega loaded the bases when
Rafael Diaz walked to keep the inning going.
Isaac Guzman pushed the Tornado lead to 3-0 when his single to center scored Oropeza and Cruz. Diaz moved to second on the play before the inning ended.
The Bulldogs got one of the runs back on a pair of hits in the top of the second to make it 3-1, but Talladega pushed four runs across in the bottom of the frame on three hits and a pair of walks to go up, 7-1.
Tougaloo chipped away as it scored two runs in the fifth and one in the sixth to trail 7-5, but the Tornadoes added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth to make it, 8-5.
The Talladega closer
Jack Wood shut the Bulldogs down in order 1-2-3 to pick up his first save of the season.
Starting pitcher
Daniel Jose earned his second win of the season. He threw six innings allowing five hits and a pair of runs while striking out four.
Rivera finished the game going 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two stolen bases. Teammate Oropeza went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, two runs scored, and a double.
Game 2: Talladega 23, Tougaloo 4 – 5 innings
The momentum for Talladega carried over into game two and it showed in the bottom of the first as the Tornadoes posted 12 runs on five hits. Talladega was able to knock out the Bulldogs starting pitcher after going up 5-0 without recording an out.
Talladega put the game out of reach even more in the bottom of the second when it plated eight runs on four hits. It all started when
Juan Gonzalez and Cruz drew back-to-back walks. Gonzalez later moved to third on Rivera's fielder's choice to put runners on the corners. Cruz was out on the play at second. Rivera then stole second to put runners in scoring position.
Ronaldo Rivera loaded the bases when he was hit by a pitch. Talladega's Oropeza drove in an RBI, which kept the bases loaded all with one down still. Later all three runners then crossed the plate when Garcia doubled to the right-center gap to make it, 16-0. Following a flyout for the second out, Guzman tripled home Garcia from second, and then he scored off of Jackson's RBI single to left to make it, 18-0.
With two down, Talladega batted around as Gonzalez came back up for his second plate appearance and drew his second walk of the inning. Jackson moved up 90 feet to second on the play. Both runners scored off of Cruz's double to right-center field to put Talladega up 20-0 before the inning ended.
Tougaloo got its first run of the game in the top of the third, but the Tornadoes responded in the bottom half with three runs to take a 23-1 lead.
Both teams went scoreless in the fourth, but the Bulldogs were able to add three more runs in the top of the fifth to make it 23-4 before the game was called.
As a team, Talladega had 12 walks with Gonzalez finishing with a team-high three. On top of that, the Tornadoes finished with finished with seven extra-base hits.
Garcia finished the day with a game-high seven RBIs while going 2-for-2 with three runs scored. He tallied a double and a home run.
Starting pitcher
Nomar Caraballo threw three innings allowing one run on four hits.
