Albany, Georgia-For the first time in the history of the program, the Edward Waters baseball squad will play for an SIAC Championship. The Purple & Orange earned their spot in the Championship Round of the Cricket SIAC Baseball Championship, thanks to their 9-0 shutout victory over rival and #4 seed Savannah State on Saturday morning at the Albany State West Campus Baseball Complex.

The Tigers (30-18, 21-11) emphatically got their offense going in the bottom of the third inning when right fielder Ferante Cowart sent a two-run homer over the left field wall to take a 2-0 lead. Edward Waters added five more runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, starting with Leonel Garcia's RBI single to center field, a Savannah State throwing error that scored both Garcia and Hugo Schoening, a Cowart RBI single, and a Dave Mitchum RBI sacrifice fly that gave EWU a 7-0 lead. The Tigers added two more insurance runs in the bottom half of the eighth inning when Mitchum hit a two-RBI single to give Edward Waters a 9-0 lead. The Tigers were able to hold Savannah State off of the scoreboard in the top of the ninth to cruise to victory and a shot at their first SIAC title.

Cowart finished the contest 3-for-4 at the plate with a homer, three RBI's and two runs scored, while Caden Hutchinson finished 2-for-4 at the plate with a run scored for EWU. Mitchum, Daquarius Thompkins, Anthony Roman, Garcia, and Erickson Matos each recorded hits in the contest for Edward Waters as well.

Tiger starter Jeremy Nieves earned his first shutout of his collegiate career in the victory, going 5.0 innings and allowing just four hits. Cameron Chastain finished the contest for Edward Waters, going 4.0 innings, scattering four hits, walking two, and striking out four.

Edward Waters will face the winner of Sunday morning's contest between #1 Albany State and Savannah State in the Championship Round, starting at 2:30pm.

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