JACKSON, Miss. – The Alcorn baseball program trailed by four in the ninth and brought the tying run to the plate but ultimately came up short with Jackson State prevailing, 6-4.
The Braves (2-4, 0-1 SWAC) bats were held in check for the majority of the night, logging just four hits including the team's lone extra-base hit coming in the ninth but did draw a season-high nine free passes.
Redshirt senior
Jose Fernandez (1-2) got the tough luck loss, tossing 7.0 innings while allowing just three runs on six hits and whiffing one batter.
Sophomore
Tristin Garcia improved his on-base streak to 11 games in-a-row dating back to last season, walking and getting hit by a pitch to go along with his 2-RBI double to keep the game alive with two outs in the ninth.
Junior
Jamey Fabre tallied the purple and gold's only multi-hit outing, going 2-for-3 with an RBI single plus reaching on a walk.
Senior
Travaris Cole added to his team-high RBI total, knocking in his 12th of the campaign during the opening frame.
Sophomore
Tyler Daniels continues to draw free passes at an alarmingly high rate, coaxing three walks for the second time in the past three contests and recording his fourth multi-walk game in the club's first six games. Daniels now has 11 walks while manning the leadoff spot for each ballgame for an average of nearly two a night (1.8).
Senior
Brandon Rembert saw his streak of reaching base safely in 14 consecutive contests snap, going 0-for-5 with two strikeouts.
Jackson State (4-4, 1-0 SWAC) became the third consecutive team to strike out ten-plus Braves, racking up 13 punch outs with nine coming from starter Anthony Becerra (1-1).
Equon Smith had an impressive showing, going 3-for-4 with three runs scored and two RBI while legging out a triple and reaching base on a walk.
Chandler Dillard was the other player in blue and white to have multiple RBI, plating one Tiger during each of his singles.
Wesley Reyes contributed a double and two hits for the Tigers while the Alcorn pitching staff took the cautious approach on slugger Jaylyn Williams as he was walked three times.
The first inning started out with a familiar sight to Coach Richardson and his staff as Daniels drew a leadoff walk on four pitches to begin the game. Garcia would get hit by a pitch immediately afterwards and the Braves would make the Tigers pay. After runners advanced to second and third on a ground out to the pitcher, Cole delivered a single to right field to give Alcorn a 1-0 advantage after three outs. Jackson State answered right back in the bottom half as Dillard put one on the chalk down the left field line to draw the score even at one.
The second saw the Braves threaten with the bases loaded and one down but an unlucky line drive found the glove of the shortstop who turned an unassisted double play to escape the danger. JSU provided danger of its own, putting runners on the corners but failing to score.
Alcorn went 1-2-3 in the third while the home squad took its first lead on a passed ball to go ahead 2-1.
The JSU advantage did not last long as the purple and gold came right back to tie it at two. Redshirt senior
Kyle Jenkins drew a full-pitch walk to begin the frame, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and subsequently scored courtesy of Fabre's hotshot single back up the gut.
The next runner to cross the plate came from Jackson State's Equon Smith who raced home from second on a Jaylyn Williams single in the fifth to move in front by a score of 3-2.
Both offenses went cold over the next two-and-a-half innings before the Tigers got three huge insurance runs on three hits in the bottom of the eighth to widen the gap to 6-2.
Prospects looked fairly dim for the Baseball Braves in the ninth as they were down to their final out down four. However, fortunes started to change when sophomore
Jaden Smith drew a pinch-hit walk followed by Daniels' third walk of the night. Garcia would bring both around to score with a 2-RBI double into the right-center gap and close the deficit to two with a chance to tie. That's where the rally would end as Rembert flied out and the Jackson State Tigers held on for a 6-4 conference opening win.
The boys from Lorman will look to bounce back tomorrow at 6 p.m. inside Smith-Wills Stadium for game two of the three game series.
NOTES
- The Braves fell to 101-159-1 in the all-time series against JSU.
- Alcorn left eight men on base while Jackson State stranded 11 runners.
Quoting Alcorn head coach Bretton Richardson
Overall Statement:
"Tonight was a tough game for us offensively. We only had four hits tonight. It's tough to beat a good twam when we don't swing the bats. I thought Jose [Fernandez] pitched a great game and kept us in it. Unfortunately, we weren't able to score enough runs."
#FearTheBrave
