The Clark Atlanta University Panthers baseball team won for the ninth time in the last 11 games as they swept LeMoyne Owen College this past weekend at Bill Evans Field in College Park, Ga.  

Today they step out of conference for a single game at Shorter University in Rome. Ga., at 2 p.m.  You can follow the action live at https://goshorterhawks.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary.

This period marks the final week of the regular season for the Panthers (16-27, 9-17 SIAC) who have been locked in a battle for a place in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Championships that begin on May 5 in Albany, Ga.  Only the SIAC's top eight teams make the field for the Championships.

CAU has been in the mix for one of the final spots in the Championships, as is Lane, Tuskegee and Morehouse.  CAU visits Lane next week for a crucial, three-game series to end the regular season.

Last weekend, CAU had big fifth and sixth innings to blow open the series opener with LeMoyne Owen and win 9-2.  DeAndre Swift had a single, three RBIs and a run scored, while Darrin Brown had two hits, an RBI and a run scored. Eason Bing and Khalil Manuel both had two hits for CAU.  Asa Waites got the win as he struck out six hitters and gave up just five hits over six innings. Michael Fegins struck out four over the final three innings to get the save.

LeMoyne Owen Johnathon Williams and Jordan Govea both had two hits for the Magicians. Johnathon Williams took the loss.

The second game on Friday saw CAU explode for 21 runs on their way to a 21-1 rout of LeMoyne Owen.  CAU banged out 18 hits, four doubles, a triple and home runs by Waites and Daniel Gay. 

Winston Noel was 4-for-5 with four RBIs and three runs scored. Eason Bing was 3-for-4 with four RBIs and a run scored, while Justice Page was 2-for-3 with two RBIs and two runs scored.  Lorenzo Petersen struck out nine hitters and only allowed two hits in 5.2 innings of work.  Petersen has struck out 76 hitters over 64 innings this season.

In the final game of the series on Saturday, which was also the final home game of the season for the Panthers, CAU held off a late LeMoyne Owen rally to win 6-5.  CAU led 6-1 after five innings, but the Magicians fought back with three runs in the seventh and one in the ninth.  But Page came on in the ninth to end the game and earn the save.

Jerry Freeman hit a home run, driving in two runs for the Panthers while Page was 3-for-4 at the plate with an RBI and a run scored.  Bing also had two hits for CAU. D'Artrey Brinson got the win for CAU, striking out five in his three innings of work.

LeMoyne Owen was led by Johnathon Williams' 3-for-4 day.  He also stole a base.  Yosvany Marquez took the loss for the Magicians, giving up four earned runs and five hits over 3.1 innings.