Montgomery, Alabama-The #3 seeded Tigers of Edward Waters trailed by as many as nine runs to #5 and SIAC for Miles in their elimination game at the Black College World Series on Thursday afternoon at Riverwalk Stadium. The Purple & Orange were able to mount a late innings comeback, pushing the contest to extra innings and in the bottom of the 12th inning, senior center fielder Daquarius Thompkins smacked an RBI single up the middle that scored senior right fielder Ferante Cowart, giving EWU an improbable 14-13 walkoff victory, keeping their championship hopes alive in the double elimination tournament.

The contest was originally slated to start at 1:30pm EST, but a two and a half hour weather delay due to thunderstorms that plagued much of the southeast during much of the day, pushed first pitch time back to around 4:00pm EST.

Things started off rather rocky for Edward Waters as the Golden Bears scored the first three runs of the game in the top of the first inning off of a three-run homer. EWU was able to pull one run back in the bottom half of the inning on an RBI groundout from Anthony Roman that cut the Miles lead in half at 3-1. The Golden Bears put what at the time appeared to be a stranglehold on the contest in the top of the second, scoring five more runs including another three-run home run that gave MC an 8-1 lead.

Edward Waters got back on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fifth on a John Nobles RBI double that made it an 8-2 lead for Miles. The Golden Bears would strike once again in the top of the sixth, plating three runs to take an 11-2 lead. From there, the 2024 SIAC Champions went to work in methodically chopping down the lead. In the bottom of the sixth, Leonel Garcia hit a two-RBI double, then Caden Hutchinson connected on a three-run homer and suddenly EWU found themselves back in the contest at 11-7.

Miles posted a run in the top of the eighth that gave them a 12-7 lead, but in the bottom of the eighth, EWU would prove that they would not go quietly into that good night. Ferante Cowart had an RBI single, Daquarius Thompkins hit an RBI triple, Roman had an RBI fielder's choice, Garcia had an RBI triple, Hutchinson connected on an RBI single, and later he scored on a Miles throwing error, and EWU suddenly found themselves on top at 13-12.

The Golden Bears scrapped back with a run in the top half of the ninth to tie the score up at 13-13. Edward Wates was unable to respond in the bottom half of the ninth, sending the contest to extra innings.

Both teams would go scoreless until the bottom of the 12th, when with one out and a runner on second, Thompkins would send the Purple and Orange into a frenzy with his game winning, RBI single, giving EWU the win and extending their stay in Alabama. 

Thompkins would ultimately be the squad's leader at the plate, going 3-for-7 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Cowart, Garcia, and Hutchinson would each record two hits in the game with Hutchinson being the team's leader in RBIs with four.  Cameron Chastain would earn the win in n relief for Edward Waters o the mound.

Edward Waters will next face the winner of the #6 Florida Memorial/#4 Wiley contest in another elimination game on Friday afternoon.

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