COLUMBIA, S.C. – The Benedict College Tigers jumped out to an early 3-0 lead over Albany State before their bats went cold and the Golden Rams took a 9-5 victory in a winner's bracket game in the 2015 SIAC Baseball Championship late Friday night.

The loss drops Benedict into a loser's bracket contest against Tuskegee at noon on Sunday. Saturday's schedule was rained out.

The Tigers, now 23-16, jumped out to three quick runs in the first inning. Kevin Davis led off with a walk and advanced to second on a groundout. Shomarii Thomas and Andre Collum hit back-to-back doubles to score two runs, then David White Jr. followed with a single to score Collum.

After those three consecutive hits, the Tigers managed just two more hits for the next seven innings. The Golden Rams, meanwhile, tied the game with three runs in the third without the benefit of a hit. A walk, a hit batsman and an error allowed the first run to score. Another walk, a passed ball and a wild pitch allowed two more runs to tie the score.

Albany State took the lead in the fifth when Allen Hardy hit a sacrifice bunt to score Jonathan Gala, who had walked.

The score remained 4-3 until the seventh, when the Golden Rams pushed across four runs. Emmanuel San hit a two-run double and Reise McDaniel hit an RBI triple to the right field corner and Ryan Latner brought another run home on a bunt.

Albany made it 9-3 with another run in the top of the ninth thanks to a throwing error by the Tigers. Benedict committed five errors in the game.

Benedict pushed across two runs in the bottom of the ninth as Rodney Beach hit a two-out single to score Kevin Davis and Thomas followed with a double to bring home Beach.

Yaniel Delgado took the loss on the mound to fall to 5-4. He went seven innings and allowed eight hits, walking six and striking out six.