LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – No. 1 Talladega College baseball team advanced in the winner's bracket semifinals of the HBCUAC Baseball Championship with a 17-1 run-rule win over No. 4 Dillard University (La.) tonight.  Tonight's win marked the team's 40^th win this season and extended the win streak to 12.

Talladega is now 40-12 on the year, while Dillard drops to 26-22 on the season. The Tornadoes won the season series 3-0 and outscored Dillard 41 to 18 in the series.

After giving up a run in the top of the first, Talladega responded in its half of the first as it pushed four runs across on one hit. Joshua Catala Santos, Miguel Oropeza, and Jahir Cruz all walked to load the bases. A passed ball allowed Catala Santos to score to tie the game at one. Both Oropeza and Cruz moved up 90 feet each on the play. Oropeza later scored off of Isaac Guzman's infield RBI single to second to give the Tornadoes a 2-1 lead. With one down, Guzman and Cruz scored to make it 4-1 off a throwing error by the shortstop, which allowed Darlin Fernandez to reach first on a fielder's choice. He advanced to third on the error before the inning ended.

The Tornadoes added three runs in the second, two runs in the third, three runs in the fourth, and five runs in the seventh to push their lead to 17-1.

Talladega starting pitcher Duque Emilio allowed four hits and one run over seven innings to improve to 10-2 on the season, while striking out six.

The Tornadoes tallied 14 walks, which was one away from tying the season-high 15 walks set back on Feb. 22 against Voorhees University.

Guzman paced all hitters with four RBIs while going 2-for-4 with a triple and a pair of runs scored.

Teammates Victor Rivera and Armando Jackson each tallied two hits, while Oropeza led the team with four walks while going 1-for-1 with three runs scored.

Talladega will face the winner of SUNO/Wiley on Friday at 7 p.m. in the winner's bracket of the tournament.