QUITE THE JOURNEY
TSU overcomes early adversity, recovers to win SWAC tournament
The journey was long, the road winding — the destination divine.
After losing their top two pitchers within the first two weeks, starting 0-9, dropping eight of their last nine regular-season games, blowing a shot at a No. 1 seed and completely reshuffling the lineup before the conference tournament final, the Texas Southern Tigers are SWAC champions.
They avenged last year’s lost to Alabama State for their second title in three years Sunday in New Orleans.
“We stayed patient, stayed the course, and it ended up working out for us, but it was nothing short of a miracle because we definitely weren’t the best team on paper,” coach Michael Robertson said.
Bumps in the road
The Tigers (20-32) also played 36 of their 48 regular-season games on the road, including contests at Houston, Texas Tech and Kansas, where they went a combined 0-7 but came away battle-tested.
But even when it seemed things were going their way, they weren’t.
The goal down the stretch was to win the series at Arkansas-Pine Bluff, where the Tigers hadn’t won in two years, and they did, taking two of three, and steal at least one at Grambling State in their final conference series, which they did, giving them a great shot at first in the Western division.
Then they lost a makeup game at home — where they were 9-2 — to Southern, and Grambling swept Prairie View A&M, leaving TSU second in the West and on a collision course with Jackson State.
“I was as puzzled as I could be after (an 8-6 loss to Southern on May 14), and I said, ‘You know what, it looks like we’re going in the wrong direction,’ ” Robertson said.
Appearances often are deceiving.
The Tigers opened the SWAC tourney with a 7-4 victory over Alabama A&M, then beat Jackson State — which clobbered them in three February meetings — twice (8-6, 11-2), setting up a rematch with Alabama State, the club that prevented them from repeating as SWAC champions last year.
They took that game 4-2 in 13 innings.
“This year, on paper, they were so much better than us, but you’ve still got to play the game,” Robertson said.
Changing on the fly
While searching for answers late, Robertson decided to rebuild his starting lineup.
Christian Sanchez moved from left field to first base, Gaudencio Lucca moved from first to second, Horace LeBlanc III switched from second to shortstop, designated hitter Jose Camacho set up at third, Blake Hicks went from catching to DHing, and top hitter Gerrick Jimenez moved to the bench.
“We were looking for a fit,” Robertson said.
“We felt like we jumped the gun, and we may have had the best players on the field but it wasn’t a good fit, and so we changed things around in Pine Bluff, and from then on things ended up working for us, but in a strange way, because those weren’t the guys I would have predicted being on the field.”
Robertson wasn’t done either.
He put Ryan Jackson in right, where he made his first start in the tourney opener, then turned his attention to the order.
“After Game 1, he completely changed the (batting) lineup around, moving me and Lucca down in the order to three and four, to give us more RBI opportunities,” center fielder Kameron Dukes said.
“When we first heard it, it surprised us because we’d been one and two almost all year, but it worked out pretty well.”
The clincher, Dukes said, was inspired pitching.
The Tigers’ staff was wildly inconsistent after losing No. 1 pitcher Ryan Rios before the season opener and openingday starter Chris Suarez, who had Tommy John surgery, only two weeks in.
But Anthony Martinez, Darius Boykins and Ryan Hawkins saved their best for last.
Martinez, who was pitching for his scholarship early in the year, beat Alabama A&M and threw the first seven innings against Alabama State, allowing only two runs, Boykins (0-7) went six strong the first game against Jackson State, and Hawkins (1-6) picked up his first win in the second meeting.
“Our pitching stepped up big time,” Dukes said.
“That’s been our downfall this year. Our pitching’s been off and on, but when we needed them to step up, they did big.
“Anthony Martinez was incredible, and Ryan Hawkins threw the best game of his life.”
The best of times
Now they’re having the time of their lives.
Sanchez, whose walkoff, two-run home run won Game 2 with Jackson State in the 10th inning, was named SWAC tournament MVP, and Lucca, Martinez and freshman pitcher Michael Villanueva made first team.
Olajide Oloruntimilehin was their only all-conference pick, making the second team.
“That’s our team,” Robertson said. “We don’t put everything on one player. We try to go out and play team baseball.”
They’ll need everyone to step up again next week in their second NCAA regional in three years.
The Tigers find out where they’re heading Monday.
Their mission, after going 0-2 in College Station two years ago, is to win their first NCAA tournament game.
“We’ve won titles before, and we want to tell you we know we can win that SWAC championship, but the goal, with (athletic director Charles McClelland) hiring me here at Texas Southern, was to win at region, and that’s our goal now,” Robertson said. “That’s what our focus is on — trying to capture that first win.”