LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University baseball program scored three runs in the bottom of the tenth, as junior Micah Walker played the role of hero with a walk-off single to right-center, propelling the Braves to an improbable 10-9 extra inning victory.
The purple and gold as a unit smacked a season-high five doubles in the win as junior Kyle Jenkins had two, and junior Edward Jackson, senior Brandon Barna and freshman Jaden Smith all hit one.
Walker only had one hit on the evening but he came up big when needed, driving the game-winning single into the right-center gap, scoring Jaden Smith and setting off a raucous celebration behind second base.
Senior starting pitcher Carlos Lopez settled down after a rocky beginning to his outing, mowing down nine Bulldog batters to move into second-place on the Alcorn career strikeouts list with 216. Lopez sits four punchouts shy of having the most strikeouts in program history with only Steve Easter (219) standing before him.
Despite the double-digit run total, Jaden Smith was the lone Brave to log multiple RBIs, plating two and going 3-for-5 as well as picking up his first double of the campaign.
Juniors Jordan McGowan, Brandon Rembert and Jenkins as well as Brandon Barna, all recorded multi-hit performances. Barna, Rembert and Jenkins each accumulated an RBI apiece.
Things did not look good for the home nine to open the ballgame, as three Bulldogs came across in the first and one more in the second to give AAMU an immediate 4-0 cushion. Alcorn would get in the run column in the bottom of the second, as doubles down the left field line by Jenkins and Jaden Smith cut the deficit to 4-1.
The Braves were just getting started as Alcorn sent all nine batters to the dish in the third and pushed five runs across to turn the tide and take a 6-4 lead. AAMU made an instant comeback, tying the proceedings at six in the top of the fourth.
The homestanding Braves got a sacrifice fly from junior Trey Covert in the fifth but both teams remained quiet offensively, as that was the only run produced from the bottom of the fourth through the end of the sixth. Alabama A&M continued the roller coaster game, knotting the score at seven-all in the seventh to send both sides into the stretch deadlocked.
Neither side could breakthrough in regulation as Jose Figueroa for AAMU and a combination of juniors Abdallah Salman and Austin Atwood came in and shut any offensive production down to send it to extras.
Extra innings saw lady luck smile on the Bulldogs in the top half of the tenth, as a Braves error and a subsequent two-RBI single by Raymond Santiago gave Alabama A&M all the momentum and a 9-7 advantage in the extra frame. Alcorn scoffed at that momentum as it promptly got a single from Jenkins and a walk from Jackson to begin the bottom half. AAMU would throw a Jaden Smith sacrifice bunt into deep left field to score both runners and tie the game at nine with nobody out.
Covert would reach on a bunt single and McGowan would be intentionally walked to set up Micah Walker with the bases loaded. Walker delivered, sailing a 0-1 fastball off the diving glove of the center fielder as the Braves stormed all the way back to record its first home win of 2019 and clinched its second winning streak of the season amid a dogpile of bodies in euphoric celebration.
Austin Atwood (2-0) got the win, giving up one hit and two unearned runs over two innings while making Bulldog hitters look silly on his way to four strikeouts.
Alcorn baseball will go for three-in-a-row as it must make a quick turnaround for an 11 a.m. showdown with the Bulldogs in game two tomorrow morning.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Bretton Richardson
Opening Statement
"That's a resilient win by the ballclub, that took effort from everybody, from the relief pitchers that we brought into the game to the guys that came in and pinch ran to the guys who started the game, that was a team win, we needed that one and hopefully we'll come out and get another one tomorrow."
On Falling Behind In The Tenth And Making The Comeback
"It's one of those situations where we created an error in the top of the tenth inning to allow them to basically score their two runs and they kind of gave it back to us again in our half of the inning. It was on that bunt play where the guy threw the ball away down the left field line but our guys didn't hang their heads, they never quit and like I told them, that's the type of effort that we're going to need throughout the remainder of the season. That's a great way to start off a series but we still got two more games we need to play."
On Finding Ways To Win
"As a team, we are growing in confidence, I think we're a team that's learning how to play together, I think these last three or four games have really brought these guys closer together and I'm looking forward to how we are going to springboard on this thing. This season is a marathon and not a sprint, so as we continue to move on through the season, we want to continue to play good baseball. We don't want to peak right now, we still have about a month and a half left in the season left, at the end is where we want to be playing our best baseball but these wins right here let us know that no matter what the score is, no matter what's going on on the field, as long as we have one out left, there's always an opportunity to win a baseball game."
#FearTheBrave
