courtesy of Jackson State Athletics
Jackson State sent six players to the HBCU Swingman Classic presented by T-Mobile and powered by the MLB-MLBPA Youth Development Foundation at Globe Life Field in front of an announced crowd of 16,467 to kick off MLB All-Star festivities on Friday night.
Tigers’ freshman shortstop Robert Tate Jr. stole the show for his American League team early in a 5-4 victory.
Jackson State had a pair of pitchers in the game including American League starter Christian Womble who gave up one run in his two innings of work. Meanwhile, Isaiah Williamscame on in the fourth for the National League, striking out his teammate Lenny Montesano in his only inning of work.
But Tate stole the show with a diving stop early in the game as he went up the middle to take away a hit and end the threat. He followed that up with a triple in the third before scoring the tying run for the American League.
Joseph Eichelberger came on in the bottom of the fifth inning in a pinch-hit role, before playing center, grounded out to third on the first pitch of the at-bat after the American League scored three in the inning to break open a tie game.
Rodney Hibler Jr. entered the game for the National League defensively in right field in the bottom half of the sixth inning. His only at-bat came in the eighth inning, driving in a run with a sacrifice fly to left field to trim the deficit to 5-3.
