Baseball finishes as GCAC Championship Runner-Up
JACKSON, Miss. - The Gulf Coast Athletic Conference regular season champion Wiley University baseball team ended its run in the 2024 Hope Credit Union GCAC Baseball Championship by reaching the championship for the first time since 2007. It fell 25-2 to No. 2 seed Talladega College on Sunday at Hank Aaron Sports Academy.
The Wildcats (28-19) with their four tournament wins reached their highest win total since before 2007. Three players landed on the All-Tournament Team. Third baseman Ryan Ready recorded eight hits, scored six runs and drove in 12. He hit two home runs to help the Wildcats reach the championship. Amir Mason tallied eights, with seven coming in Saturday's games, scored six runs and drove in six. Nick Rodriguez picked up a win and two saves, throwing 14 innings. He struck out 11 batters.
Keyon Guillory made his second start in the tournament. He went two innings and pitched to three batters in the third. Wiley used all the arms it had available but wasn't able to stop Talladega, which recorded 19 hits, including four home runs and 10 stolen bases.
After allowing three runs in the first inning, Guillory held the Tornadoes scoreless in the second. They scored seven runs in the third inning and kept piling on.
"Hats off to Talladega," head coach Kendrick Biggs said. "They made us pay when we ran out of pitching. "I'm proud of the fight our guys showed all week, playing with a target on our back. We will reload and be back at it next year."
The Wildcats were limited to three hits and only drew one walk. They got on the board in the third inning. Abel Rodriguez Jr. led off with a single and advanced on a passed ball. Eddie Garza moved him third with a single and took second on the throw. A groundball to shortstop by Jacob Perez brought home Rodriguez. In the fourth inning, Caidin Franklin led off with a walk. Aaron Flores courtesy ran for him and advanced to third on a single by Kai Woodard. Abel Rodriguez brought him home with a fly ball to right.
Wiley will wait and see if they get selected for the Black College World Series. At the end of the regular season, it was ranked No. 8 in the Black College Nines' Top 10 poll.
For more coverage on the Wildcats visit Baseball - Wiley University (wileyathletics.com)
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