Southern Jaguars are pride of HBCU baseball after its upset of defending national champion LSU

In a sport committed to increasing its number of Black players, Southern University's upset of LSU this week was a victory for all HBCU baseball programs.

The level of play and coaching at historically Black colleges and universities has risen in recent years but wins over Power Five programs, let alone a defending national champion, have been rare. Southern's 12-7 victory Monday at Alex Box Stadium — 20 minutes south of its campus in Baton Rouge, Louisiana — was only the sixth since 2020 by an HBCU against an opponent from Division I's top level.

“It helps HBCUs because kids across the board will see a Southern and think if they can beat an LSU, maybe I can be on that roster as a student-athlete and try to elevate that program,” said Michael Coker, who has written about HBCU baseball for 25 years and runs the website Black College Nines. “That’s the significance of an HBCU knocking off a (top) team — they tend to get a few more really good players who would have not even considered an HBCU.”

One of those good players who migrated to Southern is Tyeler Hawkins. He spent four years at Louisville and got limited playing time after being ranked the No. 2 outfielder in Kentucky by Perfect Game and making all-state three times during his prep career in Lexington.