TOUGALOO, Miss. – Alcorn Baseball stays close to home for midweek action this week as the Braves take a trip to Earl Sanders Field to take on Tougaloo (Miss.) in a doubleheader on Tuesday, March 24, with the opening pitch of game one set for 1 p.m.
 
THE SCHEDULE
Tuesday, March 24
1 p.m. – at Tougaloo | Tougaloo, Miss.. | Earl Sanders Field
 
4 p.m. – at Tougaloo | Tougaloo, Miss.. | Earl Sanders Field
 
IN THE RANKINGS
▪ Alcorn is not ranked in any of this week's five major polls
▪ Tougaloo is not ranked in any of this week's five major polls
 
STATS & NOTES
▪ Alcorn comes into the week sporting a 5-19 overall record, and holding a 1-5 mark in league play.
▪ Jaylyn Bennett is atop the roster with a .312 batting average, adding 24 hits and five doubles. He also has accounted for one of the team's two triples on the season.
▪ Rayfield Adams III owns eight stolen bases for the Purple and Gold, followed by Kanious Davis with five.
▪ Adams has hit safely in eight of his last nine outings, respectively.
▪ Devin Kriley went a season-long five innings in his last start on the bump over the weekend versus Bethune-Cookman, allowing three runs (all unearned) on five hits. He also had a season-high eight strikeouts.
▪ Out of the bullpen, junior left-hander Caden Wade did not surrender a run in two innings of work over the weekend against Bethune-Cookman across two different appearances.
▪ Bennett is currently riding a 16-game streak in which he's reached base safely.
▪ Cooper Harris owns a team-high five multiple-RBI games, including two where he's plated four runs.
 
QUOTES FROM COACH HARDY
"Tougaloo is a quality program, and we respect what they do. Coach [Earl] Sanders does a tremendous job over there with his guys, and they bring a lot of energy and attention to detail to the field each game. We expect a fight, and we're going to bring one too."
 
"Going on the road is always a test of your mental toughness. Our guys have to be ready from the jump. You can't wait to get comfortable when you're playing in somebody else's backyard. I'm confident in our guys' ability to compete away from home."
 
"The doubleheader gives us a chance to stretch out some arms and see what guys can do in a game situation. We've got guys in our bullpen who are ready to step up, and I'm looking forward to seeing them compete."
 
"Anytime you get a chance to play two games in one day, that's a tremendous opportunity for your program. We're going to use Tuesday as a chance to get a lot of guys some meaningful innings and at-bats. Doubleheaders have a way of telling you a lot about your team in a short amount of time."
 
SCOUTING TOUGALOO (9-12, 4-7 HBCUAC)
Rankings: D1Baseball.com – NR | USA Today Coaches – NR
Head Coach: Earl Sanders (12th season)
2026 Batting Average: .257; Runs Per Game: 5.7; Hits Per Game: 6.9; Slugging Percentage: .324
2026 ERA: 7.09; K/BB Ratio: 0.82; Opp. Batting Avg: .310
 
NOTING THE BULLDOGS
▪ Tougaloo comes into the doubleheader with a 9-12 record overall.
▪ The Bulldogs use Gage Lewis for batting, as he leads the squad with a .333 average, as well as four doubles.
▪ Tougaloo has hit five home runs as a team, led by Robert Powe with two.
▪ Powe also owns 17 RBIs to go along with a team-high matching four doubles.
▪ Lekeidric Sutton has scored a team-high 16 runs and stolen five bases for the Bulldogs.
▪ The pitching staff is topped by Caleb Carter with a 3-2 record and an ERA of 4.39 on the campaign. He also leads the team with 30 strikeouts.
 
RECAPPING ALCORN'S LAST GAME (vs. Bethune-Cookman)
Darryl Lee drove in six runs and Bethune-Cookman exploded for five runs in the third inning and six more in the sixth to complete a doubleheader sweep of Alcorn courtesy a 14-3 victory at McGowan Stadium in Lorman, Mississippi.
 
Bethune-Cookman opened its scoring account early, with Jeter Polledo singling home Erick Almonte in the first inning. The Wildcats added a run in the second on a sacrifice fly by Darryl Lee, and then blew the game open in the third. Jorge Rodriguez singled home Polledo, Almonte followed with a bases-loaded walk to score Rodriguez, and Lee capped the frame with a two-out, three-run double to left-center that cleared the bases and pushed the lead to 7-0, respectfully.
 
Alcorn clawed back with three runs over the third and fourth innings. Braves left fielder Jamir Hollway reached on a fielder's choice to score Kanious Davis in the third, and the Braves added two more in the fourth when Asher Friedman and Davis each delivered run-scoring singles to make it 7-3.
 
BCU responded in kind with a run in the fifth, when Lee singled home Christopher Watson, and then put the game away with a six-run sixth. Jorge Rodriguez singled home Caleb Scott, Watson added a run-scoring single, Lee drew a bases-loaded walk to force in a run, Andrey Martinez drew another walk to push across a run, and Scott capped the rally with a two-run single to left that made it 14-3.
 
Lee finished 2-for-2 with a double, six RBIs and a walk. Watson went 2-for-3 with an RBI and three runs scored, while Rodriguez had two hits and two RBIs of his own. For the Braves, it was Friedman producing a 2-for-3 afternoon with an RBI, and Davis finishing 1-for-1 with two walks, a run scored and an RBI as well.
 
Andris Barroso pitched a scoreless seventh inning in relief for BCU to close out the series sweep. Tanner Boccabello earned the win, striking out nine batters over six innings while allowing three earned runs on six hits to improve to 2-0. Alcorn starter Yoni Castro took the loss, giving up seven runs on five hits in just 2.2 innings while hitting three batters and walking five, falling to 0-2 on the campaign.
 
UP NEXT
Alcorn stays on the road traveling to Arkansas-Pine Bluff for a three-game Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) series taking place March 27-29, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
 
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