Braves Baseball Takes Two from Tougaloo

TOUGALOO, Miss. – Jaylyn Bennett smacked a home run, and Alcorn was able to take both legs of a midweek doubleheader Tuesday afternoon at Tougaloo (Miss.) as the Braves completed a sweep of the Bulldogs at Earl Sanders Field in Tougaloo, Mississippi. Alcorn took the opener 15-7, and they gathered the nightcap 17-7, respectfully.
 
GAME ONE: ALCORN 15, TOUGALOO 7
Alcorn turned a tight ballgame into a rout in a hurry Tuesday afternoon, erupting for 10 runs in the fifth inning to blow past Tougaloo 15-7 in the first game of a midweek doubleheader between the two sides at Earl Sanders Field in Tougaloo, Mississippi.
Alcorn (6-19) scored in five of seven innings and pounded out 14 hits, with eight different players recording at least one RBI. The Braves sent 13 batters to the plate in the decisive fifth inning, battering Tougaloo starter Tony Bradley Jr. out of the game.
 
Keatan Hawk was the catalyst of the big frame.
 
With the bases loaded and Alcorn trailing 3-3, Hawk crushed a triple to right field that cleared the bases and gave the Braves a lead they would never relinquish. The three-RBI shot was the first of four consecutive Alcorn hits, as Julian Jarrett, Adrian Vallescorbo, and Jamir Hollway each singled home a run to extend the lead to 9-3. Rayfield Adams III then delivered the knockout punch, singling to shortstop to score two more, and Jaylyn Bennett capped the inning with an RBI double.
 
Hawk finished the contest 1-for-2 with three RBIs, a walk, and a stolen base.
 
Adams went 3-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs, and also stole a base. Asher Friedman went 3-for-4 at shortstop to pace the Alcorn hit parade.
 
Alcorn actually drew first blood in the second inning without a clean hit.
 
Hawk walked, stole second, and moved to third on a Julian Jarrett single up the middle. Jarrett then swiped second, and a throwing error by Gage Lewis allowed Hawk to score. Moments later, Lewis caught Vallescorbo stealing second, but the throw allowed Jarrett to score from third, making it 2-0.
 
Tougaloo (9-15) rallied in the fourth inning to take a brief 3-2 lead. A two-base error by Alcorn third baseman Jamir Hollway opened the door, and Robert Powe singled to center field with two RBIs to put the Bulldogs on top. But the lead lasted only until Alcorn's five-alarm fifth.
 
On the mound, Kanious Davis earned the win, improving to 2-1 on the season. The Alcorn right-hander worked a clean three innings, striking out three and allowing no runs on two hits. Jacob Wingard, Garrett Oswald, Caden Wade, and Nico Garcia combined to finish out the game's final four innings.
 
Bradley took the loss for Tougaloo, falling to 1-4. He surrendered 11 runs on 10 hits in 4.1 innings, walking six batters. Reliever Khalil Rufus gave up four more runs in 2.2 innings of relief.
 
Tougaloo showed some fight in the later innings.
 
Gage Lewis singled home two in the sixth to make it 12-5, and Robert Powe capped his strong afternoon with a two-run double in the seventh to account for the final margin. Powe went 2-for-5 with four RBIs on the day for the Bulldogs.
 
The Purple and Gold also got RBI contributions from Chance Jackson (2), Jaylyn Bennett, Cooper Harris, Clayvonjae Wright, Vallescorbo, and Hollway.
 
GAME TWO: ALCORN 17, TOUGALOO 7
Alcorn made it a clean sweep Tuesday at Earl Sanders Field, pounding Tougaloo 17-7 in the second game of a doubleheader to complete a dominant afternoon in Tougaloo, Mississippi.
 
The Braves (7-19) scored in five of seven innings, racked up 17 runs on just eight hits, and ran wild on the basepaths – stealing 13 bases as a team – to close out the sweep in emphatic fashion.
 
Jaylyn Bennett was the offensive star of the nightcap. The Alcorn designated hitter went 2-for-3 with four RBIs, capped by a two-run home run to left-center in the fifth inning that blew the game open and pushed the lead to 12-3. Bennett also stole a base and walked once.
 
Chase Moore had himself a day as well, going 1-for-2 with three RBIs and two stolen bases. Gavin Caston drove in three from the nine-hole, and Kanious Davis – doing double duty as both a pitcher in game one and a hitter in game two – drew three walks, scored twice, and stole two bases. Julian Jarrett added two RBIs and a stolen base.
 
Alcorn's second inning was a seven-run eruption that turned the game from a 2-1 lead into a sizeable advantage for the Purple and Gold.
 
The Braves sent 11 batters to the plate in the frame against starter Caleb Carter, who was charged with eight runs (four earned) and didn't record an out after being replaced by John Haggard. Tougaloo's defense committed four errors in the inning alone, and Alcorn took full advantage with a barrage of stolen bases. Chance Jackson stole two in the inning, Moore stole two, and Davis swiped third base twice in the same inning to keep the pressure on.
 
Bennett's single to right field in the inning sparked the biggest sequence, as a throwing error by the Tougaloo shortstop allowed two runs to score. Jarrett then grounded out, but drove in two more. By the time the dust settled, Alcorn led 9-1.
 
The Braves had opened the scoring in the first inning without recording a single hit.
 
Bennett walked and stole second. Keatan Hawk was hit by pitch. After Jarrett flied out, Davis was plunked to load the bases, and Moore walked to force in the first run. As Moore's walk was being issued, Hawk broke from third and stole home to make it 2-0.
 
Myles Dews earned the win on the mound, improving to 2-0 on the campaign. The Alcorn starter allowed three earned runs in two innings but benefited from a big run-support cushion. Nicholas Johnson tossed two clean innings in relief, striking out two and allowing just one hit, before Jose Cherena, Henry Allred, and Chase Ragas combined to finish the game.
 
Caleb Carter took the loss for Tougaloo, dropping to 3-4. He faced 14 batters in his 1.1 innings of work, walking four and hitting three. Haggard gave up six earned runs in three innings, and Chandler Wade, the Bulldogs' shortstop in the first game, handled the final 2.2 innings on the mound.
 
Tougaloo (9-16) mounted a modest rally in the seventh, pushing across two runs on a Gage Lewis walk and a Camden Armon sacrifice fly, but the deficit was far too steep. The Bulldogs finished the game with five errors, which proved costly throughout. Robert Powe went 2-for-3 with an RBI for Tougaloo, while Grant Carmichael drove in two with a single to right-center in the second inning.
 
Alcorn returns to Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play on the weekend as the Braves travel to Arkansas-Pine Bluff for a three-game series in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. The series kicks off Friday, March 27, at 3 p.m.
 
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