SIAC championships underway in Albany; ASU Baseball wins, ASU softball falls in game one

ALBANY — The Albany State Golden Rams’ baseball and softball teams both claimed the top spot in the SIAC this season and are now hosting their respective conference championships in Albany. The baseball team opened Thursday with Morehouse College out of Atlanta and blew the game open with six runs in the second inning and went on to win 18-2. The Golden Rams softball team opened with Western Kentucky and fell 3-0 in extra innings. The seventh inning ended tied 0-0 but Western Kentucky put three runs on the board in the top of the eighth to take the win. ASU left 14 runners on base and committed four errors in the game.

The ASU baseball team (30-18, 22-1) took the top spot and is hosting games at ASU West and at Paul Eames Complex in Albany. The double-elimination tournament began Thursday afternoon with a game of second seeded Miles College facing seventh seeded Lane College. The Rams were scheduled to meet eighth seeded Morehouse College to close the first day of competition.

The SIAC announced the All-Conference selections prior to the beginning of Thursday’s championship tournament and four Golden Rams were named to that list, including Player of the Year Quantico-Dodson Williams.

Quantico Dodson-Williams earned the league’s highest honor after leading the Golden Rams to their second consecutive eastern division title. The infielder came back dominant this year during his senior season as he hit a .338 batting average and led his team to an almost perfect conference record. On the season, he slashed an AVG .338/OBP .416/SLG .571. Dodson-Williams finished with 45 hits, 35 RBIs and six homeruns.

Malik Barrington, Kevin Bryant and Chasen Roulhac were also named to the All-Conference list. In Thursday’s game, Roulhac belted three doubles in four at bats and batted in four runs for the Golden Rams.

ASU Head Coach Scot Hemmings was selected as the SIAC Coach of the Year after taking his team to a 21-1 SIAC record in his third season. The only loss came to rival Benedict College. His team won the conference championship last season and is looking to repeat this weekend with the tournament in Albany.

The championship games are set for Sunday with a 1 p.m. start and a second game to follow at 5 p.m. if necessary.

Golden Rams softball will now fall into the losers bracket where another loss ends their season. The Golden Rams will take on Fort Valley State at 10 a.m. Friday in the next round.

In the SIAC All-Conference awards for the softball teams, three Golden Rams were selected. Lavetta Tucker, Glory Seay and Megan Shepherd were listed among those selected.

The softball games are being played at the Gordon Sports Complex on Willie Pitts Jr. Road in Albany. The championship games will be played Saturday and the first game is set for 11 a.m.

Joe Whitfield