Alcorn State earned its first series win of the season at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff’s expense over the weekend in Lorman, Miss.
The UAPB baseball team beat Alcorn 9-7 Friday but lost 5-4 Saturday and 6-1 Sunday as the Golden Lions suffered their third-straight series defeat.
Friday, UAPB (14-29, 5-16 SWAC) led 6-0 after the third inning, but Alcorn took a 7-6 lead with a 5-run bottom of the sixth, capped off with a 2-RBI fielder’s choice by centerfielder Reyfield Adams III. UAPB tied the game with a double steal in the seventh, then took the lead for good in the eighth on an RBI fielder’s choice by catcher Edwin De La Cruz, which first baseman JaKobi Jackson followed with an RBI single.
UAPB centerfielder Gavin Terry hit 4 for 4 with an RBI and 3 runs. Designated hitter Carlos Rodriguez-Velez hit 1 for 4 with 2 RBI and a run. Senior pitcher Peyton Niemann (1-2) earned the win in relief with three shutout innings. He allowed one hit and two walks with a strikeout.
Friday’s win was UAPB’s second this season in the opening game of a weekend series, the first against a Division I foe.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Saturday, Alcorn (4-34, 3-18) ended a 17-game losing streak which dated back to an 8-7 win at UAPB on March 28. Braves catcher Dillon Brown gave Alcorn a 4-2 lead with a 2-RBI single in the fifth. The Golden Lions twice cut the deficit to 1 run, but Alcorn reliever Jermel Ford stranded the tying run on base in the ninth.
UAPB third baseman Jaylon Nauden hit 3 for 4 with 3 RBI and a run. Alcorn starter Kewan Braziel (1-7) went seven innings, allowing 3 runs, 2 earned. He gave up eight hits and three walks with two strikeouts.
The Golden Lions’ offense faltered in Sunday’s series finale. Alcorn took a 3-0 lead in the third inning and added 2 runs in the sixth and one in the eighth while outhitting UAPB 12-4. The Lions’ lone run came in the fourth on an RBI groundout by Rodriguez-Velez.
Alcorn first baseman Kalum Banks Jr. hit 4 of 5 with an RBI and a run. Starter Myles Dews (1-3) went seven innings, holding UAPB to 1 run on three hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.
UAPB finishes the series with a two-game lead on Alcorn in the SWAC West Division standings, but the two losses leave the Golden Lions 6.5 games behind Southern for fourth, the final spot in the SWAC tournament, with nine games remaining.