LORMAN, Miss. – After a slow start in the first game of the day's doubleheader, the Alcorn State University baseball program earned a walk-off 11-10 victory in game two to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference series 2-1 against Missisippi State Saturday at Willie E. "Rat" McGowan Stadium.
After the Delta Devils (11-23, 9-9 SWAC) rallied from a 10-3 deficit with five runs in the eighth and a two-out two-run home run in the ninth,
Devin Walden led off the bottom of the tenth with a single down the right-field line. The senior outfielder then moved up on a
Wallace Rios Jimenez sacrifice bunt and got to third on a
Justin Barna ground out to first.
Der'Vincent Hamilton slapped a 2-2 offering halfway to third to give the Braves (10-29, 5-13) the win.
"I think we take the positive with the negative and learn from both," said head coach
Bretton Richardson. "I think that we played well in all three games, but we struggled to respond in the first game today. We hit the ball well, but were only able to push across runs in the second game. We're in a good position moving forward for the remainder of our schedule."
Jordan McGowan hit 3-for-5, scored a run, and brought in two runs.
A.J. Makarewicz finished 2-for-4 with a run and three RBIs and Walden also went 2-for-4 with a run and a walk.
Hunter Wilson posted a 2-for-5 effort at the plate with a double, a run, and an RBI. Hamilton had Alcorn's other multi-hit performance as the senior batted 2-for-6 with a run and an RBI.
Edward Jackson went 1-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.
Razedrick Winters (1-2) picked up his first win of the season as he pitched 0.2 innings and struck out one of the two batters he faced. Starter Buhkari Brown allowed three runs on seven hits and six walks while retiring six batters in 7.0 innings of work.
Zachary Perez and
Tyler Smith also made appearances.
Game one was a defensive battle with MVSU taking an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first. Alcorn had an opportunity to answer in the fourth as the Braves loaded the bases with two outs, but the Delta Devils grabbed a fly out to end the threat. The visitors then plated three more runs in the eighth for the final tally.
Alcorn is back home Tuesday to host a non-conference meeting with Grambling State at 6 p.m.
#FearTheBrave
