TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The Alcorn State University baseball program averaged 7.5 runs and 10.5 hits over two games as the Braves lost the first game 11-7, before bouncing back with an 8-7 victory in the seven-inning nightcap.
Junior Travaris Cole was the offensive star for Alcorn in game one, driving in four RBIs including a two-RBI double and a solo home run with senior Brandon Barna also sending a two-run shot over the wall for his first round-tripper of the season. Senior Kirt Cormier was the other run inducer for the visitors, picking up an RBI single.
Freshman Tristin Garcia stole the show in game two, clobbering a three-run tater for his first career homer on his way to a four-RBI evening. Junior Micah Walker contributed his first multi-RBI performance of 2019 while senior Brendly Martina and junior Jordan McGowan both scored two runs. With two more hits, Martina has upped his hitting streak to seven games and has now reached base in 16 straight games dating back to last season.
On the bump, Jacob Kieffer rebounded with three shutout innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four in game one. Bukhari Brown collected his first win of the young campaign, hurling 4.2 innings of four-run ball in the shortened seven-inning game two, with Austin Atwood earning his second save.
Game One
Florida A&M 11, Alcorn 7
Florida A&M got on the board first when a Wil McDaniel solo home run gave the Rattlers a 1-0 upper-hand in the bottom of the first.
The second inning saw the purple and gold storm back, as a single by Cole paved the way for Barna to send a moonshot into the Florida sky, giving Alcorn its first lead of the day at 2-1. FAMU had a huge rebuttal however, as the bottom half saw 13 Rattlers step to the plate and seven runs come across as the home side gave the fans something to cheer about as it took an 8-2 advantage.
Alcorn decided it would not go down quietly either, as the top of the third saw Cormier smack an RBI single and Cole following him with a two-run double in the gap as the Braves clawed right back into the fray at 8-5. The offensive onslaught would calm itself on both sides for two innings before Cole struck again with another RBI base knock (a single this time) to trim the deficit to two, 8-6 FAMU in the top of the fifth.
Florida A&M would ultimately deliver the back-breaking blow in the bottom of the fifth when Jared Weber opened the game back up with a three-run bomb to put the Rattlers ahead by five, 11-6. Cole would tack on yet another RBI with a solo shot in the top of the seventh, but that was all she wrote as Florida A&M came away with an 11-7 game one triumph.
Â
Game Two
Alcorn 8, Florida A&M 7
Micah Walker got the Braves going to begin game two, as he grounded into a fielder's choice, scoring Martina to take a 1-0 advantage in the second. FAMU came up in the bottom half and responded like game one, using two RBI singles by Tuck Rayburn and Wil McDaniel to reclaim the lead at 2-1.
FAMU would extend its gap to 3-1 in the third with another RBI single via Bret Maxwell. Alcorn was willing to meet the challenge, as RBIs by Walker, McGowan, Garcia and another run coming in on a passed ball led the Braves to shift the momentum into a 5-3 lead of its own.
After both squads went 1-2-3 in their next at-bats, the Rattlers induced a bases loaded walk in the fifth to climb within one, 5-4, with Austin Atwood getting a swinging strikeout to end the threat. The green and orange threat did not last very long, as with Trey Covert on second and McGowan on first, Tristin Garcia strode to the plate and uncorked a three-run homer to give Alcorn some breathing room and surge the lead to 4 at 8-4 Braves.
Florida A&M showed its grit and tenacity as it pushed three runs across in the bottom of the sixth to make things interesting going into the final frame down one score at 8-7. Alas, Atwood shut down any dreams of a seventh-inning rally, inducing a lineout and two swinging strikeouts to end the contest, picking up his second save as Bukhari Brown got the win for Alcorn.
Alcorn baseball will look for its first series win of the year when it takes the field at 11:30 a.m. central time on Sunday as it wraps up the four-game road swing in Tallahassee.
#FearTheBrave
