The Southern baseball team was off to a poor start but busted out of the doldrums during a weekend trip to Houston.
Sporting a team batting average of .237 entering the weekend — last in the Southwestern Athletic Conference — the Jaguars took two of three from Texas Southern to build some confidence going into this week. Southern had 24 hits, including six home runs, in the three games. They beat the Tigers 13-2 on Sunday.
Southern plays at McNeese State on Tuesday at 6 p.m., then plays host to Alcorn State this weekend in its first SWAC series at home this year.
The Jaguars (7-15, 3-3 SWAC) are in third place in the SWAC West Division behind Prairie View (6-0) and Grambling (5-1). PVU has beaten up on the weaker teams, sweeping Alcorn State (0-6) and Arkansas-Pine Bluff (1-5). Grambling swept Alcorn State after taking two of three from Southern.
“We swung it pretty good Sunday, and Nick Wilson gave us a good start,” Southern coach Chris Crenshaw said. “That’s all I’ve been asking for and we got it Sunday. I’m hoping it will carry over to the next game and a few after that. I knew we were going to click at some point.”
The Jaguars got off to a quick start Sunday. First baseman O’Neill Burgos, who drove in four runs on the day, hit a two-run homer in the first inning. When TSU cut the lead in half, Jonathan Evans came up with run-scoring doubles in the second and fourth innings to extend the lead to 4-1.
Then in the fifth, the blowout started. Burgos singled for a run an
