MACON, Ga. – The sixth-seeded Benedict Tigers eliminated second-seed Albany State from the 2026 SIAC Baseball Championship with an 8-5 victory on Friday morning at historic Luther Williams Field in Macon, Ga.
Benedict, now 22-12 on the season, advances to face the loser of Friday evening's contest between top-seed Spring Hill and fourth-seed Savannah State at 9 a.m. on Saturday. Albany State ends its season at 31-18.
The Tigers struck first in the first inning when
Kent Johnson brought home
Christopher Trujillo Ruiz on a groundout. Albany State tied the game with a run in the second inning.
Johnson had an RBI single in the third, and later scored along with
Joshua Medina on a pair of Albany State errors for a 4-1 lead. The Golden Rams scored one run in the third and another in the fourth to cut the lead to 4-3.
Joshua Medina hit an RBI single to the outfield in the fifth to make it 5-3.
Milton Herring had an RBI double in the eighth for a 6-3 lead.
Albany State scored a run in the eighth to make it 6-4, but Johnson blasted a two-run homer to right field in the ninth for a pair of insurance runs. Albany State had a one-out RBI double in the bottom of the ninth, but the Tigers closed out the game with a flyout and a popup.
Johnson was 2-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored to lead the Tigers.
Starting pitcher
Jim Johnson (3-1) picked up the win on the mound, throwing seven innings, allowing nine hits, three earned runs, walked five and struck out four.
The Tigers were able to take advantage of five Albany State fielding errors, and four of the eight Benedict runs were unearned. The Golden Rams also stranded 12 baserunners, and three Golden Ram pitchers struck out 12 Benedict batters.
Benedict and Albany State were not able to play their three-game SIAC series this season, but have now won three of their last four meetings, although ASU leads the all-time series 45-20.
