Southern University entered Sunday’s SWAC baseball championship as an underdog, but left a champion.
A triple-home run from O’Neil Burgos gave Southern a 7-6 win over Jackson State, giving SU back-to-back SWAC titles in the sport. Burgos was named the 2021 SWAC Baseball Tournament MVP.
It was the first SWAC loss all season for Jackson State, which went 24-0 in conference play during the regular season.
JSU jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning before SU answered with three runs of its own in the 2nd. JSU re-took the lead in the fourth with two runs, and added one run each in the 5th and sixth.
Ty Hill batted 2-for-4 with an RBI and Chenar Brown finished 1-for-4 with an RBI for Jackson State.
Southern came into the tournament seeded third. It beat Alabama State 3-0 in the first round before falling 2-1 to Prairie View. It responded with a 10-5 win over Alcorn State to stay alive. A 24-3 shellacking of PVAMU put SU back in the title game.
The championship marked the 28th SWAC title in Southern University baseball history. Its last title came in 2019, the last time the conference championship was handed out. It will advance to the NCAA Tournament.
SWAC Baseball All-Tournament Team
Kyle Smith- Prairie View A&M
Jahmoi Percival- Grambling State
Cameron Bufford- Grambling State
Equon Smith- Jackson State
Chenar Brown- Jackson State
Wesley Reyes- Jackson State
Nickelle Galatas- Jackson State
Xavian Moore- Southern
Isaiah Adams- Southern
Colton Frank- Southern
Enrique Ozoa- Southern
O’Neill Burgos- Southern (Most Valuable Player)