LORMAN, Miss. –  The Alcorn State University baseball program did not give up a single earned run in the contest but lost 7-2 as four errors proved costly.
The Braves (3-2, 3-1 SWAC) got a stellar outing from ace
Jose Fernandez who struck out nine batters (second-highest total of his career) over six strong frames while walking just two.
The Purple and Gold pitchers combined for 12 punchouts as
Diego Lopez-Molina (1.1 IP, 2 K, 0 H) and
Joe Smith (1.0 IP, 1 K, 0 H) did well in relief as well.
Tyler Daniels and
Tristin Garcia each picked up extra base hits of a triple and double, respectively, with Daniels scoring both runs on the evening.
Tyler Smith had the Braves' lone RBI on a single, drew a walk and showed off his speed with a stolen base.
Jackson State (8-5, 4-0 SWAC) came into the night as one of the fastest squads in the nation and proved the statistics correct with four steals by four different Tigers.
Jatavious Melton was the prototypical leadoff man, walking three times and scoring once to go along with one of those four steals.
Jeffrey Rodriguez was the only player in the contest to have multiple RBIs (2) and was one of two visitors with multiple hits (2), the other being CJ Newsome.
The Blue and White registered both a double and a triple as well with Marcus Atterberry logged the double while Chenar Brown legged out the triple.
JSU starting pitcher Anthony Becerra had his top shelf stuff on display, getting 11 batters to whiff over six frames.
Steven Davila earned the uncommon three inning save, jogging in out of the bullpen to hold Alcorn hitless from the sixth through the ninth.
Tyler Smith started the scoring with a sharply hit single past the outstretched glove of shortstop Wesley Reyes to put Alcorn on the board in the second, 1-0.
JSU would strike twice in the third and once in the fifth to claim the upper-hand at 3-1.
The men from Lorman closed the gap to within one when Daniels scampered home on a wild pitch, 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth.
A fairly uneventful seventh frame for both sides led to some big situations in the waning moments of the ballgame and Jackson State answered the call, bringing around three runners to score in the eighth to complete the evening's run production as the final score ended up at 7-2.
Alcorn will try to even the series and regain its footing at the top of the division against JSU tomorrow afternoon with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. at Willie E. "Rat" McGowan Stadium.
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NOTES
- Alcorn fell to 101-162-1 all-time against its rivals from the capital city.
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