SWAC Championship Game Interrupted By Gunshots

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. (AP) – After the game was delayed overnight by gunfire, Brandon Mason scored the winning run in the bottom of the 15th inning Monday morning as Southern University defeated Prairie View 6-5 to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament. The game was halted shortly before 11 p.m. Sunday when gunshots were heard on a street beyond the center-field wall at Rickwood Field. Birmingham Police Sgt. Andrew Washington said police believed there was a gunfight between rival gangs. Play was halted in the bottom of the 15th with the score tied 5-5. Mason had just hit a leadoff triple and was on third base. Then players scrambled to their locker rooms and fans dashed for cover when they heard what sounded like fireworks just beyond the center-field fence, a newspaper reported. Washington told both teams and the conference that it was safe for play to resume, but Prairie View officials said they felt unsafe. The game was called off until Monday morning. Birmingham Police spokesman Lt. Henry Irby could not be reached immediately to comment Monday. “The decision is based strictly on the safety and fairness to the teams and to the fans, and to try to keep the integrity of the championship,” SWAC Commissioner Robert Vowels Jr. said. The game had already lasted nearly 51/2 hours. Play resumed at 8 a.m. Monday and ended just minutes later when Mason scored the winning run, said Wallace Dooley, media relations director for the SWAC.