Alcorn Game Notes
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Alcorn State University baseball program is set to take part in its first four game series of the 2019 campaign as it travels to Florida A&M. The series will consist of single games on Friday (5 p.m.) and Sunday (11 a.m.) with a doubleheader beginning at noon Saturday at Moore-Kittles Field.
The Braves opened the season at the MLB Urban Invitational for the fourth year in a row before a road tilt with Nicholls. The Braves went 1-2 during the Invitational in New Orleans and fell to Nicholls on Tuesday afternoon.
The purple and gold have excelled offensively over the opening stretch of games, knocking in 27 runs via 29 hits and averaging 6.75 runs per ballgame.
Junior catcher
Kyle Jenkins is the top RBI producer for the Braves posting five RBIs through three games, sixth best in the SWAC. Jenkins also has one of the team's three dingers.
Seniors
Brandon Barna and
Kirt Cormier lead the Braves at the plate as they both sport a .286 batting average while scoring seven runs and clubbing seven RBIs between them. Barna is 22 hits away from 100 in his career. He'd become the 48th player in school history to reach that milestone.
Cormier and Barna are ranked first and second on the team respectively in slugging percentage and on-base percentage while Cormier smacked one of the team's three long balls so far.
Sophomore infielder
Edward Jackson has two hits and has made the most of his opportunities, driving in RBIs in both instances to place second on the club with three.
Senior infielder
Brendly Martina extended his hitting streak to five and on-base streak to 14 with a single in the win over Arkansas-Pine Bluff last Saturday. He ended the 2018 campaign with base knocks in his final four appearances and reached base in his previous 13 games of last season.
Senior ace
Carlos Lopez had a stellar debut to the 2019 season, punching out six Prairie View hitters, giving up only three hits and two earned runs through five innings of work in a steady rain last weekend.
Lopez enters the series ranked fifth all-time in school history in career strikeouts with 178. He needs 42 more to break Steve Easter's mark of 219 set in 2012.
Junior
Travaris Cole has been a steady contributor at the dish, tying for the team lead in hits (4) and runs scored (4).
Florida A&M (0-5) was picked to finish third in the MEAC's Southern Division.
The Rattlers began the season dropping its first five contests to Southern (6-3), Eastern Kentucky (11-2), Arkansas-Pine Bluff (11-1), Missouri (5-3) and Mercer (7-6).
Willis McDaniel leads FAMU in batting average (.353), slugging percentage (.471), hits (6) and doubles (2). Octavien Moyer paces Florida A&M with 4 RBIs while hitting one of the team's two home runs along with Seyjuan Lawrence.
This is the second straight seasons the two squads have met in the Florida panhandle with the Braves and Rattlers splitting last year's series.
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