Box Score
OZARK, Ala. – Tuskegee University's Samuel Rodney went 4-for-5 and drove in five runs to lead an offensive explosion as the Golden Tigers defeated the Benedict College Tigers 16-5 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championship on Thursday afternoon at historic Eagle Stadium.

Tuskegee (17-19) advances to face the winner of Thursday evening's contest between Stillman and Miles at 3 p.m. on Friday. Benedict (27-12) will face Paine at noon on Friday in an elimination game.

Tuskegee jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Brandon Mapp opened the game by reaching on an error by Benedict catcher Doren Blake, the first of six errors on the day for the Tigers. Gene Moody doubled and Mapp scored on a single by Cash Oliver. Moody and Oliver both scored on groundouts to give Tuskegee a 3-0 lead.

Benedict came back to tie the game. The Tigers pushed across two runs in the bottom of the second. Lashante Grimes walked, and then Elisha McDaniel, Wilfredo Colon and Jocquese Brunson hit back-to-back-to-back singles to make it a 3-2 game. Benedict tied it the next inning after Lydell Moseby and David Weber opened the inning with walks. Moseby advanced to third on a deep fly ball, and came home on a fielder's choice by Lashante Grimes.

Tuskegee started to pull away in the fifth inning, scoring four runs with two outs. Rodney tripled to bring in Bradley Thomas, then Rodney came home on a balk, and a Benedict error allowed two more runs to score, giving the Golden Tigers a 7-3 lead.

Benedict added one run in the fifth. Kevin Davis led off with a single, and later came home on a groundout by Weber.

Rodney hit a bases-loaded three-run double in the sixth inning to push the lead to 10-4.

Back-to-back triples by Davis and Moseby plated one more run for Benedict in the seventh inning.

Tuskegee had another big inning in the eighth, scoring six runs, as Benedict committed three errors in the inning. Moody brought in two runs with a single, and Rodney had an RBI single.

Tuskegee starter John Bryant picked up the win on the mound, going five innings and giving up five hits and four earned runs. Justin Smalls, who came in relief for Benedict starter David Weber, took the loss for the Tigers.