All the higher-seeded teams advanced on the opening day of the 2022 Tyson Foods Black College World Series, setting up an eventful Thursday of competition.  

The schedule for Day 2 of the Tyson Foods Black College World Series features two semifinal games and two elimination games. The first game of the day starts at 9:00 a.m. CDT with NCAA Division II action between Albany State and Miles. The NAIA bracket semifinal game between Florida Memorial and Edward Waters will start at 12:30 p.m. CDT. The NCAA DII bracket elimination game between Bluefield State and Kentucky State begins at 5:00 p.m. CDT while the NAIA bracket elimination game between Talladega and Rust begins at 8:30 p.m. CDT.  

Thursday night is also the Tyson Foods Black College World Series’ Greek Night.  

Albany State 12, Kentucky State 2 (F/7) 

Top-seeded Albany State scored eight runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to break open a close game and post a 12-2 win over fourth-seeded Kentucky State in the opening game of the 2022 Tyson Foods Black College World Series.  

Golden Ram freshman Tyler Bullock threw seven innings, allowing just two runs (one earned), and striking out three in the win. All but one Ram player recorded hits in the game and four players, Lavoisier Fisher, Zane Ross, Tucker Jordan, and TJ Thomas II, had at least two RBI in the game.  

Kentucky State scored the game’s opening run in the top of the third and held that lead until Albany State tied it in the fourth. The Golden Rams added three runs in the bottom of the fifth, but Kentucky State came back and cut their deficit to just two, 4-2, with a run in the top of the sixth. The Golden Rams took advantage of three Thorobred errors in the bottom of the seventh to plate eight runs and finish off the 12-2 win

Florida Memorial 5, Talladega 4 

The NAIA bracket top seed, Florida Memorial, jumped out to a 5-1 lead and held off a late-game rally by Talladega to win their opening game at the 2022 Tyson Foods Black College World Series.  

Florida Memorial never trailed, scoring the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning and then breaking a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the fourth inning with three runs to take a 4-1 lead. The Lions had multiple chances to add to their lead, but Talladega routinely worked out of jams, allowing just one additional Florida Memorial run over the final four innings and forcing the Lions to leave 16 runners on base. Talladega put together a late-game rally, scoring once in the top of the seventh and twice in the top of the eighth to make it 5-4, but Isaias Espiritusantos came in and got the final four outs to shut the door on a Florida Memorial victory.  

Lion starter Max Charmin threw five innings of one-run ball, striking out two and allowing just three hits in the win. Florida Memorial lead-off man, Rohandry Javier had four hits and scored three runs. Fellow Lion Axel Gomez came up with timely hits, driving in three runs, two of which came on a two-run blast in the fourth inning.  

Miles 8, Bluefield State 3 

Miles took down the defending champions Bluefield State in the second game out of the NCAA Division II bracket on Wednesday, winning 8-3.  

Miles scored in six of the eight times the team came up to bat in the game, scoring three times in the first inning and never looking back. Kolton Easterwood pitched 5.1 innings for Miles, allowing three runs (two earned), on six hits to pick up the win. Will Cantey was stellar in relief and shutdown any thought of Bluefield State coming back, surrendering just one hit against five strikeouts in 3.2 innings of shutout baseball. 

Bluefield State got off to a great start, getting to Easterwood early and taking a 1-0 lead. But that lead was short-lived as Miles had taken a 2-1 lead without an out recorded in the bottom of the first inning. The Bears added another run in the second inning to make it 4-1, but Bluefield State responded with one run of their own to cut their deficit to two. Miles pushed across one run in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings while Bluefield State could only muster one run in total to counter, putting Miles on top, 8-3. The Bears shut the door on Bluefield State over the final three innings and took the 8-3 victory.  

Edward Waters 9, Rust 6 

Edward Waters scored six runs in the seventh inning, then held off a furious ninth-inning rally to defeat Rust by a 9-6 score.  

Edward Waters pitcher Joseph Eischen was dealing through the game’s first eight innings, allowing just two runs and striking out six, but Rust got to him in the ninth inning leaving him with a more modest complete game stat line of six runs, four of which were earned, on seven hits and six strikeouts. His Rust counterpart, Brent Jackson, matched him nearly pitch for pitch through the game’s first five innings as Jackson also allowed just two runs on five hits and struck out three until he was replaced at the start of the sixth inning.  

Rust led the game 2-0 after scoring in the first and third innings, but from there, Edward Waters started to claw their way back. The Tigers scored once in the bottom of the third inning to make it 2-1, then again in the fourth and sixth innings to first tie, then take a 3-2 lead into the last third of the game. The seventh inning saw Edward Waters capitalize on five walks and two, two-out errors, turning a 3-2 game into a 9-2 game heading into the eighth inning. The Tigers were three outs from victory, but Rust had other ideas. The Bearcats strung together multiple quality at bats, drawing walks and coming up with timely hits to plate four runs before Edward Waters could record the second out of the inning. Now leading 9-6, Edward Waters re-grouped and got the final two outs to secure the victory and advance to the NAIA bracket semifinals.