HOUSTON – The Tigers of Texas Southern University claimed its third Southwestern Athletic Conference West Division championship in program history Friday with an 8-1 win over visiting Grambling.
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Led by seven strong innings from pitcher Aron Solis and a 4-for-5 day at the plate by Kamren Dukes, the Tigers (22-25) improved their record in conference play to 16-5, three and one-half games ahead of Grambling with two games remaining in the regular season.
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Dukes stretched his hitting streak to 32 games with a double in the second inning, one of two doubles he hit Friday. The 32-game hitting streak is the longest currently active streak in the nation, and tied for the second longest streak by a Division I player in 2018.
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The senior from Pearland, Texas, claimed another spot in TSU's athletics history, as Dukes' four hits pushed his single-season total to 81 hits. Dukes broke the previous mark of 77 hits by Ray Hernandez during the 2010 season.
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Meanwhile, Solis shut down the Grambling (22-21, 13-9 SWAC) bats as he scattered six hits and only one run while not walking any batters. With the win, Solis improved to a team-leading record of 8-3 for the season.
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Seth Oliver pitched the final two innings and struck out one batter and allowed two hits while not allowing a run.
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Jose Cabreja picked up what turned out to be the game-winning RBI with a two-out bunt single that scored Olajide Oloruntimilehin in the bottom of the third inning. The bunt single provided the first of three TSU runs in the inning.
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TSU's Gaudencio Lucca and Blake Hicks knocked two hits in the game, while Christian Sanchez picked up two RBIs for Texas Southern.
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Starting pitcher Raul Baduel (4-3) absorbed the loss for Grambling, tossing five innings and allowing four runs, three of them earned. Drexler Macaay provided the visitors' lone run with a solo home run down the left field line in the top of the seventh inning.
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The two teams continue their series Saturday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m.
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