LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. – Miguel Oropeza’s and Isaac Guzman’s two home runs weren’t enough as No. 4 Talladega College baseball fell 9-8 in an elimination game to No. 5 Saint Xavier University this afternoon at the Lawrenceville Regional hosted by Georgia Gwinnett College in the 2025 NAIA Opening Round.
Talladega finished the 2025 season at 43-14, while the Cougars moved to 32-23.
Talladega wasted no time getting on the board in the top of the first, and for the third straight tournament game, Oropeza parked a home run to left center this time to make it 1-0.
Following back-to-back singles from Darlin Fernandez and Armando Jackson, to put runners on first and second. Fernandez then scored off of Jeriel Lamboy’s sacrifice fly to center to push the lead to 2-0.
After a scoreless third and fourth inning for both teams, Talladega loaded the bases in the top of the fifth but was unable to capitalize on it. Saint Xavier, in its half of the inning, was able to take advantage of an error by the third baseman that allowed a run to score and cut the lead to 2-1. The Cougars then tied the game on a groundout to third before the inning ended.
Tied at two and headed to the top of the seventh, Talladega loaded the bases on three straight singles from Jonathan Williams, Joshua Catala Santos, and Victor Rivera. Oropeza reached first after hitting into a fielder’s choice, where Williams was thrown out at home. Now with one down and bases still loaded, Jackson drew a five-pitch walk to score Santos to make it 3-2 and keep the bases loaded. Guzman broke the game open when he parked a grand slam over the left field wall to push the lead to 7-2.
The Cougars tied the game, pushing five runs across on three singles and two doubles before a base running mistake ended their chance of taking the lead in the bottom of the seventh.
Talladega loaded the bases in the top of the eighth and took the lead when Jahir Cruz walked for the team’s third walk of the inning to score Lamboy, making it 8-7.
Saint Xavier tied the game in the eighth off a sacrifice fly, and then in the bottom of the ninth, used two walks, a stolen base, a fielder’s choice, and an error to score the winning run to claim a 9-8 victory.
Starter Daniel Jose allowed two runs on three hits over four innings, while striking out two. Reliever Christian Delgado took the loss to fall to 5-1. He allowed one run and three walks over an inning and a third.
Santos and Fernandez tallied two hits each and a pair of runs scored. Teammate Guzman paced all hitters with four RBIs.
Oropeza finished the tournament going 6-for-13 with three home runs, six RBIs, and five runs scored.
Source: Talladega College Athletic Department