Florida A&M Rattlers to play at Fenway Park next month

The Red Sox and sponsors will pay the expenses, including air travel and hotel for the Rattlers and NCCU Eagles.

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- The Florida A&M baseball team will make a historic road trip next month.

Courtesy of the Boston Red Sox.

The Rattlers and North Carolina Central will play at Fenway Park – home to the Boston Red Sox – on Saturday, April 25, at 10 a.m.

The game was scheduled by the organization to showcase HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) teams to Boston and surrounding areas.

Fenway Park has been home of the Red Sox since it opened in 1912 and is the oldest ballpark in the major leagues.

"It should be exciting, and I am happy for the kids to get this opportunity, " FAMU coach Jamey Shouppe said Sunday night.

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With 4-3 victory over Grambling, Southern completes first SWAC sweep since April 2013

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana -- The Southern baseball team entered its weekend series against Grambling having lost five consecutive games to drop to 3-15 overall and 2-6 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

Three games and three victories later, the Jaguars’ season looks like it might be changing course.

Coach Roger Cador cautioned afterward that he wants to see the improvement sustained for longer than one series, but the weekend was a good start.

Tyler Kirksey and Jose de la Torre homered, and Tyler Robinson rebounded from a poor outing Tuesday to pitch 8.2 solid innings as Southern completed the series sweep with a 4-3 victory at Lee-Hines Field.

Sunday’s victory in Southern’s first one-run game this season came on the heels of 10-1 and 9-6 victories Saturday and gave the Jaguars their first SWAC series sweep in two years. The last one came when Grambling visited April 20-21, 2013.

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Nuggets, Rush beat ranked Northwestern Ohio teams

Wayne Bryan, father of the world's No. 1 men's doubles team, won't be at every match
 during XU's California trip. "But he's a fan of us now," XU coach Alan Green said.

WHITTIER, California  -- For the second time this season, Xavier University of Louisiana's tennis teams defeated ranked opponents on the same day. The Gold Nuggets beat Northwestern Ohio, ranked 24th in the NAIA, 8-1 Sunday, and the Gold Rush beat UNOH's 10th-ranked men 6-3.

The Gold Nuggets (13-8) are ranked seventh in the NAIA, and the Gold Rush (11-5) are sixth. The XU men beat a top-10 opponent for the second straight day, and the Nuggets beat a top-25 team for the second time in three days.

Nour Abbes, Caroline Vernet, Carmen Nelson and Simone-Alyse Ewell won in doubles and singles for Xavier's women. Abbes and Nelson trailed 7-4 before winning the final five games in a 9-7 No. 2 doubles victory against Kate Bondarenko and Vladica Djurdjevic.

Vernet rallied at No. 2 singles in a 2-6, 6-2, 1-0 (10-4) victory against Djurdjevic. Abbes defeated 15th-ranked Melena Lopez 6-2, 6-1 to clinch the dual, and Nelson beat 48th-ranked Raquel Marques 6-3, 6-2.

Vernet and Ewell won 8-0 at No. 1 doubles against Lopez and Marques. Brion Flowers and Brandi Nelson defeated Valeria Popko and Ana Lacerda 8-5.

Ewell beat Bondarenko 6-4, 7-5, and Sha'Nel Bruins defeated Lacerda 6-4, 6-3 for her fifth consecutive singles victory.

In the men's dual, Xavier followed the same script of Saturday, when it beat eighth-ranked Westmont. Tushar Mandlekar and Adam Albrecht won in doubles and singles, and Kyle Montrel and Nikita Soifer beat ranked singles opponents.

Albrecht and Kevin Chaouat trailed 6-3 before earning a 9-7 No. 3 doubles victory against Ronnie Myburgh and Akira Kuwada. Albrecht beat Gabriel Cleto 6-2, 6-1.

Mandlekar and Manav Chakma needed a tiebreaker to defeat 11th-ranked Rik van Gerwen and Emin Alpan 9-8 (7-5), and Mandlekar clinched the dual with his 7-5, 6-4 victory against Alpan.

Montrel beat ninth-ranked Daniel Rueda 6-4, 6-2, and Soifer defeated 29th-ranked van Gerwen 6-0, 7-5.

UNOH's women are 8-6, and its men are 10-5. Site of the duals was Whittier College, an NCAA Division III member.

Next for the Nuggets and Rush will be 1 p.m. PDT duals at Vanguard in Costa Mesa, Calif. Vanguard's women are 5-11 and ranked 15th -- UNOH defeated them 5-4 Friday -- and the men are 18-0 and ranked fourth.

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Florida A&M Rattlers Hold Spirited Second Scrimmage Of Spring

TALLAHASSEE, Florida – The Florida A&M Rattler Football team held their second scrimmage of the spring today, in a split practice that started on the practice field and ended with live plays inside of Bragg Memorial Stadium. The improvement in understanding and executing Coach Alex Wood’s philosophy is becoming evident as players are beginning to separate themselves within the system. Of crucial importance is the ability of quarterback Carson Royal to understand what the Rattler offense is trying to accomplish.

The day started with stretching, position drills, segment drills and special teams on the Rattler practice fields. With an audience of a couple hundred curious fans, changes have become evident. Former FAMU quarterback and three-time MVP Albert Chester Sr., traveled from Jacksonville, Fla., to get a glimpse of what is to come. “It’s different. I felt the difference five minutes into seeing them. The way these coaches run practice reminds me of the way Rudy Hubbard ran practice. I’m seeing a sense of purpose and attention to detail that it takes for the team to look good,” he said. Chester, led the Rattlers to booth an undefeated season in 1977 and the inaugural NCAA I-AA national championship in 1978.

The scrimmage was enhanced by NCAA-sanctioned officials. An oversized crew was on hand to judge both drill segments and the scrimmage portion. They were there to ensure that the Rattlers’ execution was not only what the coaches wanted, but compliant within the rules. Alignment and techniques were critiqued by the officials, who reported their findings to the Rattler staff and players at the conclusion of practice. They also called penalties during the live portion of the scrimmage.

Wood felt the day was a positive step for the team. “I thought today was very competitive, which was good. That’s what we’re looking for…competition at all positions. We’re also looking for execution. For the first time, I saw in the first and second offense and defense execution that was clean with not too many penalties. We had a couple (penalties) and those were coaching and teaching moments. Overall, I thought it was a good day,” Wood said.

The first team offense started the scrimmage with a 10-play drive for a score. The second team offense also put up a score. But, the Rattler defense stiffened and began to come up with big plays as the practice ensued. The ebb and flow of practice was a product of the players beginning to understand what’s expected of them and now trying to put their talents into it.

Wood stated that Royal has begun to separate himself from the other quarterbacks in camp. “Carson is coming along well. We’ve still got some work to do with him as far as some mechanical things throwing wise and making him super conscious of situations as he manages the game for us from an offensive perspective,” Wood said. He also added that he has cleared himself as the offensive leader during practice thus far.

The Rattlers will break until Tuesday when they resume morning practice at 5:45 a.m. in Bragg Stadium. The Orange & Green Spring Game will be held on Apri. 11, at 2 p.m. in Bragg Stadium.

2015 season football tickets are available now at the FAMU Ticket Office, located in the Al Lawson Multipurpose Center and Teaching Gymnasium, and can be secured by visiting, or calling the office at (850)599-3141. Tickets to the North End Zone Experience are also available for pre-purchase at the ticket office.

COURTESY FLORIDA A&M UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Claflin U. Baseball Takes Two from In-State Rival Benedict

ORANGEBURG, South Carolina  -- The Claflin University Panthers took the first two games of a three-game Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) series from in-state rival Benedict College, sweeping a doubleheader, 4-2 and 6-4 Saturday at Historic Mirmow Field.  The two teams will close out the series Sunday at Historic Mirmow Field. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.

With the win, Claflin, who has won their eighth straight conference game, secured its fourth straight SIAC series.  With the wins, the Panthers improved to 14-19 overall 10-1 in the East Division of the SIAC.  Benedict drops to 12-14 overall and 5-4 in conference play.

In Game One, Jesse minter had a RBI single to score Johnny Stevenson in the bottom of the third to give Claflin the early lead.  Benedict tied the game in the top of the fourth off a RBI fielder's choice by Andre Collum to drive in Shomarii Thomas and tie the game at 1-all.  Rashad Bivens hit a three-run inside the park homerun in the bottom of the six to break the 1-1 tie and give the Panthers the 4-1 advantage. The Tigers, who had bases loaded with one out in the top of the seventh, managed to only place one run on the board en route to the two-run Game One loss.

Sixto Guerrero had two hits and Stevenson and Jesse Minter each had one run in the win.

Justin Vreeland pitched six strong innings in picking up his third win in six decisions. He allowed two runs on eight hits and two walks.  Anthony Ford, who replaced Vreeland with bases loaded, picked up the save.

Kevin Davis had three hits to lead Benedict in Game One.  Andrew McCoy added two hits and an RBI while Robert Troiano took the loss for the Tigers.

Benedict got on the board first in Game Two, scoring one run in the top of the first.  The Panther scored three of their six runs in the bottom of the third.  After Minter reached base via walk, Rashad Hilton tripled to bring Minter in the bottom of the third for the Panthers first run of the game. In the same inning,Reginald Rogers reached base via walk and stole second, which gave Claflin runners on second and third with one out.  A wild pitch allowed Hilton to score and advanced Rogers to third. Rogers scored on a squeeze by Jabari Brown to give the Panthers 3-1 advantage by the bottom of the third.   Benedict scored one run in the top of the fourth, but Claflin picked up two runs in its half the fourth to push its lead to 5-2.  Both teams added runs in the fifth and Benedict scored the game's last run in the sixth en route to falling 6-4.

Darius Boykins pitched his seventh complete game in picking up the win for Claflin.  Boykins, who increase his record to 5-2, gave up four runs on 10 hits and a walk. He threw 114 pitches and fanned three batters in going the distance.

 Davis went 2-3 with two runs to lead Benedict offensively in Game Two.  Devon Leon suffered the loss for Tigers.

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COURTESY CLAFLIN UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION

Badgers saddle Thorobreds in SIAC doubleheader

MOBILE, Alabama -- The Spring Hill College (SHC) baseball team won two Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) games over the Kentucky State University (KSU) Thorobreds by the scores of 19-6 and 12-1 at historic Stan Galle Field on Saturday afternoon.

The Thorobreds took a quick 4-0 lead in the 1st inning of the first game off a Grand Slam by first baseman Marshall Howard, but the Badgers rallied back to take a 6-5 lead with a four-run 3rd inning. KSU tied it up again at 6-6 in the 4th frame, but Spring Hill erupted for 11 runs in the bottom of the 4th inning.

Senior starter Jackson Howard moved to 6-0 on the year with five innings of work that included six hits, five walks and six strikeouts. Josh Dunn (2-4) took the loss for KSY in three innings with eight hits, seven walks and three strikeouts.

The second game saw Stephen Douglas (4-1) pick up a complete-game victory with just three hits allowed, four walks and 10 strikeouts. Cornell Brown (3-1) took his first loss of the year with a complete-game in which he surrendered 17 hits with three walks and four strikeouts.

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Rush earn 3rd win of season against a top-10 opponent

Xavier records its fifth victory this season against a ranked NAIA
opponent -- its third against a top-10 team.

SANTA BARBARA, California -- Xavier University of Louisiana earned its third men's tennis victory of the season against a top-10 opponent by defeating Westmont 7-2 Saturday.

The Gold Rush (10-5) -- ranked sixth in the NAIA and in the first of three dual matches in as many days against top-10 teams -- defeated three nationally ranked singles players and one ranked doubles team.

Westmont (8-7) is ranked eighth.

Tushar Mandlekar and Adam Albrecht won in doubles and singles for Xavier. Mandlekar and Manav Chakma defeated 22nd-ranked Jan Sibbel and Christian Mathis 8-4, and Mandlekar beat Sibbel, ranked 46th in singles, 6-3, 6-2.

Albrecht and Kevin Chaouat beat Tommy Nightingale and Travis Smelley 8-2 in the first completed doubles match. Albrecht clinched the dual with his 6-0, 7-6 (7-1) victory against Nightingale.

After losing their doubles match, Xavier's Kyle Montrel and Nikita Soifer dominated in singles. Montrel beat 25th-ranked Carl-Philip Lindqvist 6-1, 6-3, and Soifer ended his three-match singles losing streak by throttling 20th-ranked Luke Whalen 6-0, 6-0.

Xavier's other victory came from Jordan Harrell, who beat Joshua Barnard 1-6, 6-4, 6-3. Harrell had dropped four consecutive three-set decisions.

Both Xavier teams will play Northwestern Ohio at noon PDT Sunday at Whittier College in Whittier, Calif. UNOH's men are ranked 10th in the NAIA, and its women are 24th. Xavier's women, who are ranked seventh, did not play Saturday after winning 7-2 Friday at No. 11 Westmont.


Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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