HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – The Alcorn State University baseball program bundled a strong performance on the mound with heavy hitting to thump Alabama A&M 12-1 in seven innings Sunday at Bulldog Field.
Senior
Daniel Belmont tossed six innings and fanned eight Bulldogs (12-37, 9-12 SWAC). He allowed just one run on four hits.
Sophomore
Conrado Skepple threw the final frame for the Braves (11-28, 7-14 SWAC) and did not allow a base runner.
At the plate, junior
Wallace Rios Jimenez extended his on-base streak to 35 games and registered a career-high five RBI. Senior
Kirt Cormier, junior
Der'Vincent Hamilton and sophomore
Brandon Barna each recorded two hits in the game and Hamilton scored three runs.
Alcorn, which clinched a berth to the SWAC Championships yesterday, fell behind 1-0 when it answered with two runs in the second. After senior
Jason Sanez walked and Hamilton was hit by a pitch, Barna singled to right field for an RBI. Rios reached on a fielder's choice but picked up an RBI to score Barna.
The Braves increased their advantage to 6-1 in the fourth with four runs. With the bases loaded and one out, Rios reached on an error by the shortstop which scored three runs and he was credited with two RBI. Rios moved to third on another error and scored on a balk.
Alcorn loaded them up again in the fifth for Rios, and two runs came in on a fielder's choice to make it an 8-1 spread.
The Braves put the game out of reach with four more runs in the seventh. For the third time, Rios came to the plate with the bases juiced and laced a single to score one. Junior
Nicholas Hayes-Saltare followed with a walk to score another. The final blow came on a two RBI hit through the left side by Cormier.
Belmont earned his second win of the year.
AAMU's Owen Stubberfield took the loss after allowing 10 runs, four earned in 6.0 innings. Cornelious Woods led the team at the plate with a pair of hits.
Barna finished the weekend with a .667 batting average and .727 on-base percentage with six hits in nine at-bats with a walk and hit-by-pitch.
Up next, Alcorn will travel to UAPB for a non-conference game at 6 p.m. Tuesday. The Braves also announced that their home game against the Golden Lions on May 10 has been canceled due to final exams at UAPB.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Bretton Richardson
Opening Statement
"It was a role reversal today. We were able to take advantage of some mistakes that they made and get some timely hitting. Belmont pitched a heck of a ball game and that's why we were able to come out on top today."
On Belmont's performance
"He commanded the strike zone. He got strike one a lot and made the other guys swing at his pitches. We had an inning where we had a couple of errors but he was able to pitch around them. That's something we hadn't been able to do this series or during the course of the season. He pitched a great game and you have to take your hat off to him today.
Carlos Lopez was actually supposed to start today but is battling a little bit of an arm issue but Belmont stepped it. Sometimes that's what it takes - when someone is injured or not feeling well we expect the next man to be able to come in and perform, and Belmont was able to do that."
On getting a lot of hits
"We want to have four or five guys swinging good bats in every game. If we can do that it will give us an opportunity to score some reasons. It just so happened today that we had a lot of guys at the bottom of the lineup get on base and manufacture some runs. Though it was a team effort today and I'm proud of those guys."
#FearTheBrave
