NORTHPORT, Ala. – The road to an HBCUAC Baseball Championship begins Saturday for the Wilberforce University baseball program.

For the second consecutive season, the Bulldogs have earned a berth in the Hope Credit Union Baseball Championships. Wilberforce opens play at 3:30 p.m. Saturday as the West Division's No. 3 seed, facing Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO), the East Division's No. 2 seed.

The seeding marks a significant step forward from last season, when Wilberforce entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed in the eight-team field.

Wilberforce brings one of the conference's most potent offenses into the tournament, led by sophomore designated hitter Christopher Alcantara-Diaz. He is slashing .415/.562/.792 with eight doubles, one triple, 10 home runs, and 55 RBI—anchoring a lineup that ranks second in the HBCUAC with a .319 team batting average.

The Bulldogs feature eight hitters batting over .300, including two above .400. Junior Darius Woodson is hitting .411/.541/.581 and leads the conference with 16 doubles.

Senior Keith Smith Jr. enters the postseason as one of the team's hottest bats, riding a seven-game hitting streak in which he is batting .500 with six doubles, one home run, and 12 RBI. That surge has lifted his season average to .353.

Freshman Junior Veras-Vasquez finished third in the conference with nine home runs and fifth with 41 RBI, posting a strong .339/.443/.653 slash line with seven doubles and two triples.

Junior Joe Mendy also closed the regular season in standout form, recording hits in 11 of the final 12 games while batting .394/.465/.606 with 10 doubles, two triples, and three home runs.

On the mound, Wilberforce's primary rotation features sophomore Juan Gomez (4.15 ERA), freshman Andres Anez (8.31 ERA), and senior Xavier Thompson (7.54 ERA), who has started every appearance this season.

The bullpen has experienced an up-and-down year, showing flashes of dominance along with periods of inconsistency.

SUNO is led by sophomore pitcher Christopher Nunez, the reigning HBCUAC Pitcher of the Week. He is coming off a dominant outing against Wiley—a two-hit, complete-game shutout with 10 strikeouts. On the season, Nunez is 5-2 with a 3.75 ERA (fourth in the HBCUAC) and 53 strikeouts across 57.2 innings. All 10 of his appearances have come as starts, making him the only SUNO pitcher who has not worked out of the bullpen this season.

Offensively, the Knights rank 10th in the 12-team conference with a .259 batting average. Three players are hitting above .300, led by junior Kyler Shephard (.353), along with junior Caden Cantu (.350) and senior Dylan Jimenez (.321).