The Talladega College baseball team will head to Lawrenceville, Ga. for the NAIA Opening Round next week. Host No. 2 Georgia Gwinnett College (49-4) is the top seed, followed by Keiser University (35-15), the No. 14 University of Houston-Victoria (38-15), Talladega (42-12) and Saint Xavier University (31-22). The Tornadoes earned their place in the national tournament by winning the HBCU Athletic Conference title for a second consecutive year Sunday after also obtaining the regular season league crown.
The bracket features two nationally ranked teams, Georgia Gwinnett and Houston-Victoria, as well as Keiser, which sits just outside the top 25 but is receiving votes. Speed figures to play a key role in Lawrenceville. Georgia Gwinnett has stolen an NAIA record 344 bases this season, while Talladega is second in the country with 271 and Saint Xavier is third with 222.
It is Talladega's sixth appearance in the Opening Round. The Tornadoes have a 4-10 all-time record in the competition and have not advanced beyond the double-elimination Opening Round. However, they have won their opening contest in each of their last three appearances-2024, 2019 and 2018.
Talladega hopes to ride a historic season thus far into national postseason success. The Tornadoes' 42-12 record includes a 4-0 weekend at the HBCUAC Championship and 14 consecutive wins overall. Those 42 triumphs are a school record, surpassing the 40 victories the program achieved last year.
The Tornadoes have been led to that mark by Marcos Dominguez, the HBCUAC Coach of the Year. Dominguez, in his ninth season at the helm of Talladega, earned his fifth trip to the NAIA Opening Round. Jorge Rodriguez made it an all-award winning staff by claiming the conference's Assistant Coach of the Year prize.
On the field, Talladega boasts five First Team All-HBCUAC selections and two Second Team selections. The headliner for the Tornadoes is first baseman
Miguel Oropeza, the conference MVP. Oropeza won the HBCUAC triple crown, leading the league with 15 homeruns, 76 RBI and a .530 batting average. He was the only player in the conference to hit more than 10 homeruns, drive in more than 50 runs and hit better than .500.
Catcher
Armando Jackson, shortstop Jederick Velazquez and outfielder
Jahir Cruz were the Tornadoes' other position players to earn First Team All-HBCUAC honors. Jackson has slugged nine home runs and drove in 48 runs, while Velazquez, the only Talladega freshman who received conference recognition, and Cruz both own .395 batting averages and have more walks than strikeouts.
Emilio Duque was Talladega's only pitcher of the bunch. The junior has a 2.66 ERA in a team-high 74.1 innings. Duque's 10 wins are second on the team behind
Samuel Guadamuz, who combines with Duque to give the Tornadoes an impressive 1-2 punch. Guadamuz has posted a 4.32 ERA and has struck out 85 batters in 73 innings.
Second baseman
Victor Rivera and outfielder
Isaac Guzman were Second Team All-HBCUAC honorees. Rivera led the conference with 45 stolen bases and has only been thrown out five times. Guzman, meanwhile, is second on the team with a .408 batting average, behind just Oropeza, to go along with 18 extra base hits on the season.
The four seed Tornadoes begin their NAIA Opening Round slate May 12 at 11 a.m. against five seed Saint Xavier. The winner of that contest moves on to play top seed Georgia Gwinnett in the double-elimination competition.
