Jackson State University’s baseball team will begin its 2026 season on Friday night at Trustmark Park in Pearl, Mississippi, participating in the MLB HBCU Power Series. The Tigers are set to play Prairie View A&M with the first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m.
The event will continue through the weekend and include a total of seven games featuring six teams. Jackson State is also slated to face Alabama A&M on Saturday and Alcorn State on Sunday. Other participating teams at Trustmark Park include Grambling State and Texas Southern.
Last season, Jackson State finished with a record of 30-21. The team returns several key offensive players for the new season. Wilbert Perez, who was named a preseason All-Conference selection, will be back at first base after recording 60 hits—including 12 doubles, one triple, and eight home runs—in his debut season with the Tigers. He also led the team with 48 RBIs and scored 32 runs.
Second baseman Ledy Alvarez is returning after finishing last year with a .309 batting average, collecting ten extra-base hits and scoring 42 runs. Tyshon Patty resumes his role at third base following a season where he tallied eight extra-base hits and crossed home plate 36 times.
Robert Tate Jr., entering his third year as shortstop, had ten extra-base hits in just 34 games last season while maintaining a perfect stolen base record (eight steals) and scoring 27 runs. At catcher, both Hederick Torres—who scored 29 runs—and Pierre Cabral—who also serves as designated hitter—are returning contributors.
On the pitching side, Jackson State faces challenges replacing its top three starters from last year but has five returning pitchers along with several newcomers competing for spots in the rotation.
All nine games during this weekend’s series will be streamed live on MLB.com.
Fans can follow updates about Jackson State Athletics via social media accounts @GoJSUTigers (Instagram and Twitter), Jackson State Tigers (Facebook), or by visiting GoJSUTigers.com.
