Jackson, MS. -- The Alabama A&M University Bulldogs made their debut in the Southwestern Athletic Conference baseball tournament here Thursday. Their welcome wasn't a very warm one, however.

The Bulldogs, the number two seed from the SWAC Eastern Division, went down big in their first-ever SWAC tournament game, losing to No.3 Western Division seed Texas Southern University, 17-5. TSU, 21-31 on the season, collected 16 hits and two errors while AAMU, which dropped to 15-23 on the year, compiled 14 hits and three errors.

"We're fortunate to play as well as we did and win today," said TSU head coach Candy Robinson. "The odds were against us, but we were very competitive. I hope we'll do even better tomorrow and beat Southern." TSU's victory earned the Tigers the right to meet four-time SWAC champion Southern University at 10 a.m. Friday. Southern, 30-14, earned a first round tourney bye as the Western Division's top seed. AAMU dropped to the loser's bracket.

Besides the SU-AAMU game, the other winner's bracket game on Friday is a 1 p.m. game between Jackson State University, the top seed from the Eastern Division, and the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, which shocked Grambling State University in Thursday's nightcap, 7-6.

Senior Ricardo Salazar picked up the victory for Texas Southern, upping his record to 6-6 on the year. The loser was Roy Conway for AAMU. He fell to 3-4.

TSU's top guns Friday were left fielder Alph Coleman and shortstop Dwayne Phaure. Coleman went five-for-six with five runs batted in, one home run and a double. Phaure went four- for-four with one double and four runs batted in.