FRANKFORT, Ky. – The Benedict College baseball team closed out the regular season with a doubleheader sweep over Kentucky State on Sunday.
 
The Tigers pulled away from a 5-5 tie with three runs in the sixth inning and held on for a 9-7 victory in the first game. Benedict rallied from an 11-6 deficit in the second game by scoring eight runs in the final three innings to take a 14-11 victory. Saturday's game was canceled due to weather.
 
Benedict improves to 23-16 overall and 17-14 in the SIAC. The Tigers have qualified for the SIAC Tournament for the first time since 2019. Benedict finished in a tie for fifth place with Miles College. The top eight teams will advance to the championship tournament at Luther Williams Field in Macon, Ga. May 1-4. The SIAC will announce official tournament pairings on Monday.
 
In the first game, Nicholas Gioia walked and later scored on a Kentucky State error. The Thorobreds scored three runs in the second inning to take a 3-1 lead. The Tigers scored three runs in the fourth inning as Cameron Haley had an RBI single, Carson Fellows scored on a bases-loaded balk and Jose Gil hit a sacrifice fly. Benedict added a run in the fifth inning for a 5-3 lead.
 
Kentucky State scored two runs in the fifth inning to tie the score at 5-5. Benedict scored the go-ahead run in the sixth on a sacrifice fly by Isaiah Canty. A KSU error allowed two more runs to score. Benedict added an insurance run in the eighth inning on a wild pitch.
 
Benedict opened the second game with three runs in the first inning, but the Thorobreds answered with five runs in the bottom of the first. Juan Guardado had an RBI double and Gil had an RBI single.
 
Canty had a solo home run in the second, and Ri'shon Pearl followed with a two-run blast to give Benedict a 6-5 lead.
 
The Thorobreds (3-38 overall, 1-29 SIAC) regained the lead by scoring six runs in the bottom of the second for an 11-6 lead.
 
The Tigers started to chip away with an RBI double by Kenyan Conner Jr. in the fifth. Haley hit a bases-loaded double to score three runs in the sixth to cut the lead to 11-10. Haley later scored on a stolen base to tie the game. Jonathan Olmedo hit a sacrifice fly to score the go-ahead run. Haley then hit a two-run homer in the seventh to close out the scoring.
 
Haley went 3-for-4 with five RBIs in the second game, as the Tigers pounded out 17 hits, including three home runs.