Grambling State Claims Series Opener Despite Late TSU Rally

A six-run sixth inning was the difference as TSU’s late rally fell short in a 10-6 defeat on Friday at MacGregor Park.
 
Grambling State led the game off with a double and scored on an RBI double for a 2-0 lead after the first. Gabe Vasquez led the second off with a walk, Roderick Coffee was hit by a pitch followed by Chase Cromer’s bunt single which loaded the bases. TSU tied it at 1-all as Vasquez scored on a double play.
 
Two home runs by GSU in the third moved them ahead 4-1 but Coffee answered with a homer in the bottom half for a 4-2 margin. Daalen Adderley and Alexander Olivo had back-to-back RBI in the fifth which tied it at 4-all.
 
Starter Abraham Deleon ran into some early trouble and was relieved by Carlos Marquez after walking the leadoff batter followed by a wild pitch and a walk in the sixth. Marquez forced the first out but hit a roadblock with a walk, a bases loaded hit-by-pitch and another bases loaded walk as TSU trailed 6-4. TSU went back into the bullpen as Josiah Castro entered but GSU broke the game open with a grand slam to lead 10-4.
 
TSU chipped away at the lead over the next few innings as Gabe Vasquez hit a sac fly in the seventh followed by Victor Molina’s RBI double down the third base line. Ron Brown’s sac drove TSU to within three runs at 10-7. In the bottom of the ninth, TSU made it interesting as Adderley scored to make it 10-8 as the winning run was at the plate in Shannon Martin. Martin and GSU reliever Phillip Bryant battled to the wire as it came down to a full count but Bryant won the battle with a strikeout.
 
Cromer went 2-for-3 with an RBI while Martin scored two runs. Marquez was tagged with the loss on the mound.
 
The series resumes at 2 p.m. on Saturday at MacGregor Park.