LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University baseball program are making a shorter trip across the Alabama border this weekend to tangle with the Hornets of ASU.
Â
The Braves (5-5, 5-4 SWAC) rank 17th in the NCAA for scoring at 8.3 runs per game, is second in the conference for batting average (.264), on-base percentage (.393) and strikeouts per nine innings (9.1) while among the league's top three teams in fielding percentage (.957) plus hits allowed per nine innings (9.80).
Â
Coach Richardson's roster deploys three players that rank among the top-three nationwide as
Kyle Jenkins is second in walks per game (1.38),
Tristin Garcia is third for hits per game (2.00) and
Khalil Smith places third regarding runs scored per game (1.60).
Â
Garcia is among the top-15 student-athletes in the NCAA for numerous statistical categories including batting average (.476) and RBIs per game (1.50), top-30 for on-base percentage (.560) and is the toughest hitter to strikeout in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (10.5).
Â
Smith is right behind Jenkins in walks per game as well, slotting 22 spots behind him at 24th with 1.10 per night.
Â
Jarius Colley and
Hunter Wilson rank second and fourth, respectively, in RBIs per game average at 1.25 and 1.20.
Â
The starting rotation has the best one-two punch atop its rotation in the entire conference behind
Jose Fernandez and
Lane Gordon. Fernandez's miniscule ERA of 0.90 is best in the SWAC and top-30 nationally while Gordon's 2.40 is hot on his trail at second place.
Scouting the Alabama State Hornets (6-11, 3-3 SWAC)
The Hornets were swept in its SWAC opening series versus Jackson State but flipped the tables with a sweep of Valley to even its conference record at three.
Â
Bama State is top-50 in the country for a trio of categories; strikeouts per nine innings (10.6), triples (6) and triples per game (0.35).
Â
Jabronski Williams joins Alcorn's
Kyle Jenkins as two of the most disciplined hitters in the nation, topping the conference with 17 walks and ranking second behind Jenkins for walks per game average at 1.13.
Â
Santiago Garcia is the doubles master, fronting the SWAC with 0.47 doubles per game and totaling the second-most two-baggers with seven.
Â
The Black and Gold have two lockdown relievers out of the bullpen in Ryan Velazquez and Payton Harris. Velazquez has yet to surrender a run over 9.1 innings of work while Harris has allowed just one during his 15.1 frames for an ERA of just 0.59.
Â
The series history has been heavily lopsided in one direction or another during its lifespan as despite a 35-game losing streak in the series, Alcorn still holds a 19-win edge over Alabama State at 133-114-1.
Â
#FearTheBrave
Â
