Alcorn Game Notes
Lorman, Miss. – The
Alcorn State University baseball program will have a cross-divisional matchup this weekend as the Braves tangle with the Prairie View A&M Panthers in a three-game series.
Alcorn (4-11, 1-4 SWAC) has been the best in the conference in terms of limiting mistakes in the field as its .955 fielding percentage leads all SWAC teams. The purple and gold as a unit are in the upper half of the league in hits allowed per nine innings (11.38), strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.05), strikeouts per nine innings (7.6) and triples (4) as well.
Senior starting pitcher
Carlos Lopez enters the series ranked fifth all-time in school history in career strikeouts with 195. He needs 25 more to break Steve Easter's mark of 219 set in 2012. He has totaled 23
punchouts in 24.1 innings of work in 2019 and will move into fourth place with one more strikeout.
Junior
Travaris Cole leads the Braves in batting average (.339), hits (19) and RBIs (13) while in the top third among
Alcorn hitters in total bases (27), slugging percentage (.482), runs scored (9) and doubles (3). Cole has seven multi-hit games including a four-for-four outing at Florida A&M on February 23 and leads the club with three multi-RBI games as well.
Freshman
Tristin Garcia has been a revelation at the second base position for
Alcorn, pacing the club in doubles (4), placing second in average (.333), smacking 17 hits and nine RBIs. He is currently riding a six-game hitting streak and reached base safely in 11 consecutive games.
Redshirt senior
Kirt Cormier has been one of the toughest hitters to strikeout in the country as he ranks among the top-50 in the NCAA at 13.5 and has reached safely in 14 straight appearances.
- Senior Brandon
Barna is 8 hits away from 100 in his career. He'd become the
48th player in school history to reach that milestone.
Barna is tops among Braves hitters in total bases (29), triples (2) and slugging (.492).
Redshirt junior closer
Austin Atwood has put the finishing touches on a majority team's four victories, as he's second in the SWAC with three saves. He also picked up a win in his lone non-save situation appearance. Atwood is averaging 1.39 strikeouts per innings pitched.
Prairie View A&M (4-12, 3-3 SWAC) was pegged to finish fourth in the SWAC's Western Division.
The Panthers have not fared well in non-conference play losing nine of its ten games, with its only win coming against the Braves in both team's season openers on February 15.
Daniel Lingua has been getting on-base with ease for PVAMU, with an on-base percentage of .500. He also leads the team in average (.347), doubles (6) and walks (13) while swiping eight bags. Alex Martinez and Dalton Horner have been the top run producers, accounting for nearly 40% of the team's RBIs on the season with 29 between them. Starter Derrick Curry has played the role of ace, posting a 2.45 ERA in 14.2 innings.
Alcorn and Prairie View met to begin the year in the MLB Urban Invitational in New Orleans with PVAMU securing a 10-3 victory. The two sides met once in 2018 as
Alcorn took home the win, 8-4.
#FearTheBrave
