The Thorobreds plated a run in the first inning and never trailed. Kelton Saylor singled with one away and moved to third on a base hit from Higgs. Chambers reached on a fielder’s choice, driving in Saylor. 

KSU pushed the margin to 3-0 in the third inning. Higgs was once again the catalyst, notching a two-out single. Chambers followed him with a two-run blast over the left field fence. 

After Byron Famble walked and swiped second, he moved to third on a wild pitch. A fielding error allowed him to score, giving the designated visitors a 4-0 lead. 

The Thorobreds increased the margin to 5-0 in the fifth. Chambers singled with two outs and hustled to third on Thompson’s base knock to left center. Josh Graves drove him in with a hit to right field. 

The Big Blue cut into the deficit in the bottom of the stanza. JR McRee singled with two down. After a single put two on, a wild pitch put runners on second and third. Garret Hladilek’s single made it 5-1. BSC had two on, but a fielder’s choice ended the threat. 

CJ Cooper walked with one down in the sixth. He advanced to third on a failed pickoff attempt and scored on a wild pitch, closing the gap to three at 5-2. 

BSC put two on in the seventh, but a strikeout ended the stanza. The designated home squad had a chance to knot the game at 5-5 in the eighth. Cooper singled and moved to second on Brayden Merrick’s base hit to right field. A walk to Taylor Tibbs loaded the bags. However, back-to-back strikeouts ended the frame. The team was able to get one runner on in the ninth, but dominant pitching ended the game. 

In the loss, the Big Blue was led by Hladilek’s three hits. Cooper and Blake Little registered two hits apiece. Hladilek had the team’s lone RBI. 

BSC’s Shawn Runey worked six innings. He gave up five runs – four of which were earned – and had seven strikeouts. Jacob Matheney worked 1.2 frames and tallied three strikeouts while Zach Powell notched four strikeouts in 1.1 innings of work.  

Kentucky State advances to the Division II loser’s bracket championship game against top-seeded Albany State Friday at 9 a.m. The winner of that game faces No. 2 Miles at 5 p.m. 

The Black College World Series is a postseason event to determine HBCU baseball national champion on the field, while emphasizing the significance of collegiate baseball’s unique regular season where every game counts.  

Black College Championships, along with its selection committee will announce the field of eight-teams in all for the 2022 Black College Baseball Tournament. The field for the world series includes automatic bids via conference championships and at-large entrants and at-large invites. The tournament is a double-elimination two-bracket format.  

Each of the teams in the two-brackets, the winners of those games play each other, while the losers play an elimination game.  

The tournament games pits NCAA DII bracket champion and the NAIA bracket champion as the final two teams left standing advance to a winner take all championship game to determine the national champion. 

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