LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University baseball program gave up a staggering 19 hits and committed four costly errors as the Delta Devils took advantage with a 9-2 victory on Saturday afternoon.
Junior outfielder Brandon Rembert has been swinging a huge stick in the first two games of this series, as he's gone 6-for-7 with two doubles, two runs scored, a walk and a solo home run against the Mississippi Valley pitching staff.
Senior Kirt Cormier saw his season-long 19-game on-base streak ended abruptly, going 0-for-3 while picking up an RBI with a sacrifice fly in the first. Sophomore Jacob Kieffer came on in relief to pitch 2.1 solid innings in which he struck out three, allowed five hits and two runs.
MVSU began game two in similar fashion to game one, jumping ahead in the first inning off a RBI line-hugging triple to right by Aaron Barkley, before Barkley would come in on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 in the first. Alcorn would respond to the adversity, loading the bases for Cormier to drive in junior Jordan McGowan on a sacrifice fly to deep center as the Braves answered back to make it 2-1 after one.
The bottom of the third saw the Braves benefit from Brandon Rembert's torrid weekend hitting spree, sailing a hanging breaking ball over the wall to even the proceedings at two. Braves senior starter settled into his own on the hill after the rocky first inning, shutting out the Delta Devils offense over the next 3.2 innings.
Fernandez looked as if he would escape unscathed with two outs and a runner aboard in the fifth, but Valley designated hitter Wendall Rieves pulverized a two-run round-tripper and Marshall Parrish would add an RBI triple to the ledger as MVSU increased the lead to 5-2.
Two more Delta Devils runs in the seventh and one apiece in the eighth and ninth put the finishing touches on The Valley's 9-2 series-clinching win and sent the home nine to its fourth straight loss.
Starter Jose Fernandez (1-2was credited with the loss, throwing seven strikeouts over 6.2 innings while allowing seven runs (five earned) on 14 hits and two walks.
Alcorn baseball will try to halt a four-game losing streak when it looks to take game three from the Delta Devils tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Bretton Richardson
On Where the Game Got Away
"It was early on, we had chances to cash in early with the bases loaded but we didn't. We kind of let that get off the hook today, just from an offensive standpoint we just didn't have it today, you just have to tip your hat to their guy."
On Slowing Down MVSU's Wendall Rieves
"We haven't been able to get a lot of them out these past two games, our pitching hasn't been very good these two games and because it hasn't they've made us pay for it. Hopefully we'll come out tomorrow and pitch better."
On Jose Fernandez's Outing
"He started off a little shaky, kept us in the ballgame during those middle innings but again offensively we didn't swing the bats enough to help him out. I think he kind of got tired as the game wore on, so I was forced to get him out of there."
On Jacob Kieffer's Relief Appearance
"He's a guy that's got a pretty good arm, he started off having a rough stretch early on but he settled in a little bit. He's a guy that can get some big outs for us but the past couple times we've brought him into the ballgame we've been behind. He's going out there and giving us what he's got and that's all we can ask for."
On Trying to get out of the Four-Game Losing Skid
"Baseball is an unforgiving game, it's not a game that you can go around feeling sorry for yourself. It's a tough game and there's a reason that people pay these [MLB baseball] players millions of dollars. It's a grind, it's a game where you're going to fail more than you succeed but mentally you just got to be strong and that's what we are struggling with right now from a mental standpoint, finding ways to get over that hump. It's a long season, we are going to keep trying to grind and hopefully we'll find a way to get out of this funk."
#FearTheBrave
