NEW ORLEANS, La. –  The Alcorn State University baseball program saw Grambling State jump out to an 8-0 cushion after two innings and never look back as the Braves dropped the SWAC Tournament opener, 14-4 in eight innings at Wesley Barrow Stadium.
Senior Kirt Cormier logged himself a multi-RBI morning as he drove in two while picking up a walk.
Junior Jordan McGowan had a stellar performance, going 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs scored.
Junior Kyle Jenkins tallied the other Braves RBI on a fielder's choice.
Freshman Tristin Garcia added his 20th multiple hit outing of the campaign, tacking on two hits to his ledger along with a run scored.
GSU woke up the bats immediately for the early morning start time, scoring four runs apiece in the first and second innings to blow the game open from the get-go with an 8-0 lead heading into the third.
The Braves would benefit from a Grambling error to scratch across its first run of the ballgame in the top of the third to cut the deficit to 8-1.
The black and gold pushed another run across in the fourth with a leadoff home run by Jahmoi Perceival to swell the advantage back up to eight, 9-1 Tigers.
The boys from Lorman, Mississippi got their first RBI of the tournament via a Cormier RBI single in the fifth to make it 9-2 Grambling.
GSU plated one in the fifth and Alcorn brought around two in the seventh thanks to RBIs by Cormier and Jenkins to give Alcorn a spark of offense at 10-4.
The Tigers would salt things away in the following two innings, scoring four runs to end the ballgame in the bottom of the eighth by a final score of 14-4.
Senior starting pitcher Carlos Lopez (2-6) received the loss after working 1.0 inning, allowing six runs and two hits with one punchout.
Alcorn baseball will play the loser of the 3 p.m. game between the Alabama State Hornets (No. 1 East) and the Prairie View A&M Panthers (No. 4 West) at 9 a.m. Thursday morning.
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Quoting Alcorn head coach Bretton Richardson
On Walks Hurting The Team's Chances
"That was basically the tale of the game today, he [Carlos Lopez] just wasn't sharp today as the last two outings he had and Grambling was able to take advantage of it. That's why we had the outcome the way we did today."
On Being Down Eight Runs After Two Innings
"In tournament play, you never know what's going to happen, we could've stabilized that and held that thing right there. We got four runs and we still might be playing but we walked to many guys and that was pretty much the telltale of the game."
On Carlos Lopez's Outing
"Not quite sure, those bugaboos have been his Achilles heal all year, not being able to pound the strike zone. We thought he had turned the corner with the last two starts that he had but unfortunately for him, it just wasn't his day today."
On Leaving Eight Runners On Base
"We had some opportunities but we are fighting an uphill battle so anytime you put yourself behind the eight-ball it makes it difficult for us and a little bit easier for them. If it's a little bit closer ballgame with the traffic we had on the bases you never know what might happen."
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