Staff writer
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Grambling baseball team nearly slugged its way back to a road win Tuesday afternoon, but fell 10-8 at Stephen F. Austin.
Trailing 7-2, the Tigers got an eighth-inning pinch-hit grand slam from Caleb Clines and also rang up two runs in the top of the ninth, but the Lumberjacks answered Clines’ clout with a three-run bottom of the eighth to ultimately make the difference. All three runs were unearned after the second Tiger error of the day.
Grambling’s ninth-inning push included run-scoring grounders by Rafael Ramirez and Jeremy Almaguer.
GSU (9-15) took a 2-1 edge in the third inning but SFA (12-13) posted a pair in its half of the frame to move up 3-2, then added four runs over the next three innings to open a five-run margin.
James Cooper’s Tigers used six pitchers in the midweek game, nobody working more than 2.2 innings.
Jahmoi Percival doubled, tripled, stole two bases and scored twice to pace the Tigers’ seven-hit attack.
Grambling, which has won nine of its last 12 contests, comes home to host Southern in a three-game Southwestern Athletic Conference series beginning Friday.