Bates Leads Baseball Bearcats To The ‘Ship, 8 Years Since Older Brother Passed

JACKSON, Miss. – The Rust College baseball program is headed to its first Conference Championship Game in school history after extinguishing the Dillard Bleu Devils, 10-1 in the Winner's Bracket Semifinals.

This contest held extra importance for Head Coach John Bates, whose older brother had passed away on this date eight years ago.

"It's a huge win, my guys win for my team," Coach Bates said in a text after the victory. "They worked so hard this season and they deserved the victory. I dedicate this win to his memory."

Brytan Sampson never gave Dillard a chance to make it a ballgame, stifling DU over seven innings of one-run baseball, striking out four amid 11 baserunners allowed.

Olin Evans was nearly perfect in his own right, giving up just a single walk while getting half of his outputs on strike three (3).

Victor Clay spearheaded the offense, going 4-for-5 out of the lead off spot and scoring three times.

Malik Berrien also made his contributions felt, notching three singles, two steals, and two runs scored.

Shemaar Stapleton and Khalil Robinson both logged one double plus a single, driving home five RBIs between them.

The Devils must have watched the tape from Friday's dominant outing against Tougaloo because they refused to pitch to designated hitter Stone Teague, pitching around him all day as he racked up three walks while smacking a hit in two official at-bats to bring in a pair when they did decide to challenge him.

Rust now awaits the winner of the matchup between the winner of the #5 Tougaloo-#4 Philander Smith tilt at 5 p.m. and Dillard in the GCAC Championship, having to win just once Sunday while their opponent has to knock the Cats off twice in-a-row to claim the crown.

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