TWO UP, TWO DOWN! FAMU baseball survives grueling SWAC Tournament Friday, sets stage for trilogy

Florida A&M baseball welcomed Friday facing an uphill battle.

The No. 3 Rattlers tumbled into the losers' bracket after No. 1 Alabama State Hornets rallied for five runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a 9-8 win in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Tournament second round Thursday.

This forced FAMU to play two games on Friday in order to keep their conference title alive.

First, the Rattlers (27-29) defeated and eliminated No. 4 Prairie View A&M (20-37) in a grind-it-out quarterfinal contest, 1-0, in the 9 a.m. game. North Florida Christian alum Dallas Tease pitched FAMU to the victory.

Then, the Rattlers played against the top-seeded Hornets (41-17) for the 3 p.m. semifinals matchup.

FAMU ended ASU's comeback effort with an 8-6 win.

Raylan Wagner pitched the Rattlers to the win over the Hornets, throwing 118 pitches.

Trailing 3-1 after seven innings, FAMU exploded for seven runs in the top of the eighth.

Alabama State scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth but Zach Morea, who absorbed the defeat in the Hornets' comeback win Thursday, answered and earned his fourth save.

"First off, all glory to God," Wagner told the SWAC's Charles Bishop. "That was everything I had. I just knew that if I gave my guys a chance and kept us in the game, I knew they'd have my back.

"That's why we came out on top."

The Rattlers and Hornets will meet for a third time Saturday at noon.

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FAMU trailed for the majority of the game until a seven-run seventh inning sparked the Rattlers to pull ahead. It was Sebastian Greico's three-run homerun bomb that sparked the strong inning.

Greico, who has 16 homers this season, also broke the FAMU's program record for homeruns ― surpassing Sean Gilliam and Keith Maxwell's 15 apiece.

"It was just a fastball right down the middle," Greico said. "I was just looking for a good pitch to hit, he gave me it, and I just put a good swing on it."

The Rattlers and Hornets will now have a SWAC Tournament trilogy as they face off once more to decide who advances to Sunday's championship game.

"We play together," Greico said. "It's not over until it's over. So, we're going to keep fighting, come out [Saturday] and give it our best."

Here's the full SWAC Tournament bracket and schedule.

The SWAC Tournament is available to watch via the SWAC Digital Network.

FAMU baseball and softball combine for seven in HBCU All-Star Game

The Rattlers softball team will have a quartet of representing them in the Minority Softball Prospects' 2023 HBCU All-Star Game ― infielder Destiny Cuevas and outfielder Melkayla Irvis will play for Team Billie Harris. First baseman Jane'a Mobley, and catcher Nyah Morgan will play on Team Betty Chapman.

FAMU has the most players selected for the game.

The first pitch will be thrown on Friday, June 2 at Gwinnett College Softball Field.

Baseball will have three players representing the Orange and Green at the Minority Baseball Prospects' 2023 HBCU All-Star game at Coolray Field on Saturday, June 3 in Lawrenceville, Georgia.  Outfielders Ty Jackson, Janmikell Bastardo, and pitcher Hunter Viets will play for Team Andre Dawson.

Gerald Thomas, III covers Florida A&M University Athletics for the Tallahassee Democrat. Contact him via email at gdthomas@gannett.com or on Twitter @3peatgee.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU Baseball: Rattlers keep season alive in SWAC Tournament Semifinals