BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (Interstat) — Texas Southern defeated Jackson State 8-7 Thursday night in the Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball championship at the SWAC Baseball Championship, rallying from a seven-run deficit and winning on Christopher Chavez’s walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Jackson State raced to a 7-0 lead after five innings, scoring one run in the first, one in the second, three in the third and two in the fifth. Tyree Reed delivered two doubles and two runs batted in for the Tigers, who capitalized on walks, hit batters and timely hits. Pierre Cabral added a double and a sacrifice fly, and Shemar Harris singled twice and drove in a run.

Texas Southern began its comeback in the sixth. Trailing 7-0, the Tigers loaded the bases with no outs on a walk, a walk and a hit batter against reliever Trae Burton. Shaun Williams then tripled down the left-field line, clearing the bases and cutting the deficit to 7-3. Christopher Chavez followed with a groundout to shortstop that scored Williams, making it 7-4. Texas Southern added another run in the eighth when Anthony Ruiz homered to left field, pulling the Tigers within 7-6.

In the ninth, with Derek Arrocha on the mound for Jackson State, pinch hitter Miguel Morales singled to right field with one out. Derek Gipson, also pinch hitting, singled up the middle, moving Morales to second. Shaun Williams then singled to left field, scoring Morales and tying the game at 7-7. Kade Walker relieved Arrocha, and Christopher Chavez greeted him with a single to left center that scored Gipson and gave Texas Southern the walk-off victory.

Shaun Williams finished with three hits, including the triple, and four RBIs. Chavez had two hits and two RBIs. For Jackson State, Tyree Reed had two doubles, two RBIs and two walks. Robert Tate Jr. walked twice and drove in a run.

Texas Southern used five pitchers. Joshua Prieto earned the victory, pitching three scoreless innings in relief with four strikeouts. Jace Maynard, who started the sixth, allowed one run in 1 1/3 innings. For Jackson State, starter Talmadge Davis went five innings, allowing one unearned run on two hits with four strikeouts. Kade Walker took the loss, allowing the winning hit in the ninth.

The victory improved Texas Southern’s record to 19-22. Jackson State fell to 23-26. The two teams split their regular-season series this season, with Jackson State winning 17-12 and Texas Southern winning 15-9 in March, and Texas Southern winning 3-2 in February.

The game was the first meeting between the teams in the SWAC tournament since 2023.