Southwest Baseball Team Faces Roane State In Region Play-In Game

The eighth-seeded Southwest baseball team will take on ninth-seed Roane State in a play-in game for the TCCAA/NJCAA Region VII Tournament at 3 p.m. on May 6 in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Southwest/Roane State winner will play regular season conference champion Columbia State at 4 p.m. on May 7. Southwest enters the tournament with an 18-33 overall record including 10-17 in the conference. The tournament championship game is scheduled for May 11.

The Saluqis' top hitters this season are a pair of freshmen. Shortstop Gadier Charriez leads the team with a .389 batting average, 68 hits, 9 doubles and 16 stolen bases while outfielder Ty Michelotti is second on the team with a .363 batting average and leads the team with 5 triples, 3 home runs, 24 runs batted in (RBIs), 34 runs scored and 82 total bases.

Other possible starters are freshman outfielder David West (.322 and 22 RBIs), sophomore outfielder Alonzo Powell (.318 and 8 RBIs), sophomore outfielder Cameron Dougher (.310 and 16 RBIs), sophomore second baseman Tyler Burnett (.274 and 23 RBIs), freshman catcher Brett Steadman (.269 and 18 RBIs), freshman catcher Mark Riddle (.255, and 5 RBIs), sophomore Alan Tyson (.254 and 21 RBIs), freshman designated hitter Nick Reeves (.211 and 2 RBIs), sophomore third baseman Carlos Alegria (.189 and 13 RBIs) and sophomore rightfielder Christian Crawford (.176 and 9 RBIs).

Sophomore lefthander Luke Deaton, the probable starter in the play-in game, leads the pitching staff with four wins and 51 strikeouts. Other members of the staff who've pitched at least 20 innings this season are freshman righthander Jerry Tatum, who has three wins and leads the team with 28 appearances and a 3.33 earned run average, sophomore righthander Brian Shipman, freshmen righthanders Chris Miller, Ryne Hodges and Joey Brock, and freshman lefthander Blake Witt.

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