In a historic second for each Jackson State College and HBCU baseball, former Tigers pitcher Earl Sanders has been elected to the 2025 class of the Faculty Baseball Corridor of Fame.
The announcement, made Monday by the Faculty Baseball Basis, locations Sanders amongst 21 inductees who’ve left an indelible mark on the collegiate recreation.
Sanders, a dominant drive at Jackson State from 1984 to 1986, is well known as one of the crucial achieved gamers in HBCU baseball historical past. Throughout his three-year collegiate profession, he earned each Southwestern Athletic Convention Hitter of the Yr and Pitcher of the Yr honors—a uncommon double that underscored his all-around expertise.
In his closing season, Sanders led the Tigers to a SWAC championship and an NCAA Regional look at LSU, posting a exceptional .432 batting common, 17 dwelling runs, and 60 RBIs.
His stellar efficiency caught the eye of Main League scouts, and the Toronto Blue Jays chosen him within the first spherical of the 1986 MLB Draft. Sanders’ legacy at Jackson State is additional cemented as he turns into solely the second consultant from the college to enter the Corridor of Fame, becoming a member of his former coach Robert Braddy, who was inducted in 2016.
Reflecting on the importance of this 12 months’s induction class, Faculty Baseball Basis Board of Trustees Chairman Craig Ramsey stated, “Their achievements present the expansion and variety of the sport, together with the vital function of HBCU baseball”.
Now in his second stint as head baseball coach at Tougaloo Faculty, one other Mississippi HBCU, Sanders continues to form the subsequent era of student-athletes. His management and dedication to the game have made him a revered determine each on and off the sphere.
The 18th Faculty Baseball Corridor of Fame induction ceremony, generally known as the Night time of Champions, might be held on February 12, 2026, in Overland Park, Kansas, serving because the ceremonial begin of the school baseball season
