BATON ROUGE, La. – Gabe Vasquez, Roderick Coffee and Alexander Olivo combined for 10 RBIs while Abraham Deleon struck out six as TSU opened a key series with an 11-1 win over Southern.
Southern took a 1-0 lead after the first as an error led to a run on a fielder's choice. The Tigers would take the lead for good in the third as Daalen Adderley opened the third with a single and scored on Alexander Olivo's two-run homer for a 2-1 kead.
CJ Castillo led the fifth off with a walk and moved over on Olivo's single. Vasquez moved TSU ahead 5-1 with a three-run homer followed by Baton Rouge native Coffee's solo homer for a 6-1 lead.
Adderley led the sixth off with a hit by pitch and stole second as Olivo drew a walk. Vasquez's walk loaded the bases and Coffee's fielder's choice upped the score to 7-1. A balk would score Olivo as TSU finished the inning ahead 8-1.
Coffee drew a bases loaded walk in the seventh to up the margin to 9-1 as Vasquez and Olivo added icing to the cake with a pair of solo homers in the ninth.
Vasquez finished 2-for-3 with four RBI, three walks and two runs. Coffee had three RBI while Olivo was 3-for-4 with four runs and three RBI. Back-to-back SWAC Pitcher of the Week Abraham Deleon allowed only three hits, an unearned run and six strikeouts.
The series resumes at 3 p.m. tomorrow in Baton Rouge, La.
