Alcorn Upsets Grambling in 11-Inning Thriller

SWAC Tournament Central

NEW ORLEANS – A strong start on the mound by sophomore Carlos Lopez, bundled with late inning hits ultimately lifted the Alcorn State University baseball program over Grambling State 7-6 in 11 innings Wednesday in the first round of the 2017 SWAC Championships at Wesley Barrow Stadium.
 
Alcorn (12-31, 7-17 SWAC), which was the No. 4 seed from the East Division, led 5-1 heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. Grambling (22-29, 15-9 SWAC), the top seed from the West Division, stormed back with four runs on just one hit to tie it 5-5 heading into the ninth.
 
The Braves notched the go-ahead run in the ninth on a one-out homer to left-center by junior Der'Vincent Hamilton. It was his fourth home run of the season and it gave Alcorn a slight 6-5 edge.
 
The Tigers were down to their final out when Nicholas Wheeler singled through the left side to score a runner from third. It evened the game again 6-6 and sent it into extra innings.
 
The game-winning hit came in the 11th when senior Kirt Cormier singled to left field with one out which plated junior Wallace Rios Jimenez. The inning started with a walk by Rios and he advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior Nicholas Hayes-Saltare.
 
Grambling garnered a hit to lead-off the bottom of the 11th, but after a pop up in the infield, the Braves ended the game on a line drive at the shortstop Hayes-Saltare which turned into a double play.
 
Despite the late inning heroics, the story for most of the game was Lopez's arm. He surrendered a run in the first inning, but then tossed 6.0 scoreless frames. He was pulled before the eighth inning started with a 5-1 lead.
 
Sophomore Conrado Skepple (1-1) picked up his first win of the season after throwing the final 4.0 frames. He allowed just one earned run.
 
Rios, an All-Conference First-Team selection, extended his league-leading on-base streak to 38 games with a hit and two walks in the affair. It also increased his on-base streak to 39 games including the finale from last year.
 
Cormier registered two hits in the contest for his 13th multi-hit game of the year.
 
The Braves leaped in front early with three runs in the first inning. The initial run came when senior Jason Sanez, an All-Conference Second-Team honoree, was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Senior Walter Vives followed with an RBI single to left, and Alcorn scored another on a fielding error at short.
 
Alcorn scored two more in the top of the eighth. It came on an error in center field and an RBI ground out by Rios. Senior Patrick McMahon doubled to right-center in the inning.
 
Grambling was led at the plate by Wheeler who posted three hits. SWAC Player of the Year Marshawn Taylor went two-for-five with a walk, two runs and an RBI.
 
The Braves will play again Thursday at 6 p.m. against Alabama State, which was the No. 2 seed from the East Division. The Hornets defeated Prairie View A&M 13-5 in the first round. The game can be heard on WPRL 91.7 FM with Charles Edmond on the call.
 
Quoting Alcorn head coach Bretton Richardson
Opening Statement
"This was definitely an all-around team effort by everybody. You have to take your hat off to Grambling with the way they fought and hung in there. They did everything they needed to do to get back in this ball game. Fortunately for us, we were able to make one more play than they did and we were able to come out on top."
 
On errors defensively
"Unfortunately, that's what allowed Grambling to get back into the game. We work on these things every day at practice, but sometimes when you get into a situation like this with the bright lights and the fans the pressure can get to the kids a little bit. I was just happy that we were able to overcome that in the later innings and make some plays. It was a heck of a play by Hayes-Saltare to end the game; he had to sky-high to catch that ball and double the guy off."
 
On Carlos Lopez
"He was a little shaky in the first inning but he settled into the game and pitching seven strong innings. He pounded the strike-zone and made those guys put the ball in play and we made some plays behind him. We took him out after the seventh inning because of his pitch count but we felt good about his start."
 
Closing Statement
"I couldn't be prouder of the guys. We have just as much talent as any team in the conference and it just comes down to heart. It's about will, and who wants it more. We really wanted to win this first game, it was so important to us. I was so proud of the effort we displayed tonight and hopefully we can carry it over into tomorrow night."
 
#FearTheBrave