Late Rally Falls Short at Houston Christian

HOUSTON – Kanious Davis had a pair of hits Sunday afternoon, but it was not enough as Alcorn fell 10-4 away to Houston Christian in the final game of a three-game weekend series at Husky Field in Houston, Texas. The Huskies swept the series having taken Friday and Saturday, respectfully.
 
Houston Christian (3-5) jumped on Alcorn starting pitcher Kayden Sutton early, plating five runs in the home-half of the first inning.
 
Designated hitter Katcher Halligan drove in leadoff man Jeremy Rader with a single to left to make it 1-0, followed moments later by a Preston Curtis fielder's choice back up the middle to plate Tyree Jackson for the 2-0 Huskies advantage. A balk called on Sutton made it 3-0 before a fielder's choice off the bat of Matthew Brandt – followed by an error on the Braves infield, scored a pair to put the hosts up 5-0.
 
HCU added three to the board in the bottom of the fourth to make it 8-0.
 
Jack Walker's two-run scoring double to the gap in left center brought in Rader for the second time on the day, as well as Halligan crossing for his second run. A Zach Munton sacrifice fly to center was deep enough to allow Curtis to trot in from third for the third run of the frame.
 
Alcorn (1-6) fought back with its largest scoring inning of the weekend with four in the top of the sixth.
 
Braves first baseman Cooper Harris lined a single that eventually saw third baseman Kanious Davis score on a Huskies error. A Keaten Hawk double to score Harris and chip away at the lead, 8-2.
 
The Braves then used a Gavin Caston double down the line in right to score Hawk, as well as a Nico Garcia single to right center that plated Caston from second to make it 8-4.
 
However, the hosts tacked on another two runs in the eighth when Munton tapped a single to shallow right to score Curtis. And then it was Brandt reaching on the sixth error of the day by the Braves to allow Coby Hatcher to score and make it 10-4.
 
Ben Smith (1-1) picked up the win in a starting job for the Huskies, as he worked 4.2 innings on the rubber, allowing just three hits and striking out six against two walks. The loss went to Alcorn's Sutton (0-1), who worked 3.1 frames with eight runs – just one of those earned, on four hits, four strikeouts and a walk.
 
Braves relievers Yoni Castro and Tristan Delaplante combined to throw two innings and never surrendered a hit in their time on the bump.
 
The Braves bats were paced by Davis with his 2-for-4 afternoon, adding a run scored. Hawk was 1-for-4 at the dish with one RBI and two runs of his own. The Huskies offense was driven by Munton's 2-for-2 showing with two RBIs to boot.
 
Alcorn gets back to the diamond Wednesday, Feb. 25, as the Braves travel to ULM for a midweek affair in Monroe, Louisiana, beginning at 1 p.m.
 
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