Black College World Series 2023: Wednesday Scores, Winners and Bracket Results

The 2023 Black College World Series got underway Wednesday in Montgomery, Alabama, to spotlight historically Black colleges and universities in Division II and the NAIA.

Albany State, Savannah State, Bluefield State and Edward Waters make up the Division II field. Rust, Wiley, Paine and Florida Memorial fill out the four-team NAIA bracket.

The double-elimination tournaments will conclude Saturday, with the title game preceded by a Home Run Derby.

Here's a brief overview for how Wednesday unfolded.

---

Wednesday Scores

• Albany State 3, Edward Waters 2 
• Florida Memorial 7, Rust 4
  
• Bluefield State 13, Savannah State 9
• Paine 9, Wiley 5

---

Wednesday Recap

A single by Austin Roberts was the difference between Albany State and Edward Waters. With the bases loaded, the Golden Rams third baseman got a base hit to the left side to bring home Zane Ross, which broke a 2-2 deadlock.

John Luegering came on to pitch the ninth for Albany State and set the Tigers down in order to seal the victory.

Twice Edward Waters went ahead, only for its opponent to strike back.

A Pierce Thomas single in the fifth canceled out an RBI sacrifice fly by Daiton Pass. Then the teams exchanged runs in the sixth, with Caden Hutchinson and Quintard Wright hitting run-scoring singles for their respective squads.

Dwanye Maduro went the distance for the Tigers, allowing 10 hits and striking out nine over eight innings. Calvin Baker threw six innings for Albany State, recording three strikeouts, before handing things over to the bullpen.

There wasn't any such drama as Florida Memorial took down No. 1 seed Rust thanks to a six-run eighth inning by the Lions.

With FMU trailing 2-1, Gabriel Marinez turned the game on its head with a grand slam to left. Two batters later, Genesis Nunez put another pair of runs to the board with a homer to left.

Rust scored twice in the bottom of the eighth but couldn't mount a serious comeback.

William Hiciano stymied the Bearcats in his seven innings on the mound. He allowed one earned run on three hits while striking out eight.

Bluefield State overcame 5-2, 7-4 and 9-7 deficits to defeat Savannah State 13-9.

A Brantley Durham three-run homer tied the game at seven in the sixth inning. Savannah State responded with two runs in the bottom of the frame, but Bluefield State responded with six unanswered runs in the final three innings. Meanwhile, Savannah State's bats went cold and failed to register a hit in that same span.

Bluefield State had 14 hits, led by Jordan Varela-Payne with three. Durham posted four RBI, and Curtis Ball scored three runs. Garret Hladilek added a solo homer. For Savannah State, Jaden Oden and Desmore Joseph led the way with three hits apiece.

The nightcap featured Paine jumping out to a comfortable lead and never looking back in a 9-5 win over Wiley. Paine scored four in the fourth inning, with Denny Daza providing a two-RBI single. Paine scored runs in the fifth and sixth for a 6-0 edge, but Wiley cut the lead in half in the bottom of the sixth off an RBI single, walk and groundout.

Paine erased that work with three more runs in the seventh, capped by yet another Daza two-run single for a 9-3 edge. Wiley got two back off a pair of RBI singles in the bottom of the ninth and even got the tying run on deck, but a groundout ended the game.

Starting pitcher Hunter Justice went the distance for Paine, striking out 12 while allowing 12 hits and five runs. Jhoel Melone paced Paine with three hits.