Alcorn Takes a Win from Grambling in Jackson

JACKSON, Miss. – Alcorn and Grambling State continued their three-game Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) series Monday afternoon at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi, with field conditions at Willie E. "Rat" McGowan Stadium still unstable for play after heavy rains impacted the Lorman, Mississippi, area over the weekend.
 
Grambling State took the continuation of game two, which was originally halted in the top of the sixth inning Friday evening, courtesy a 20-8 decision. But Alcorn came back to grab a 12-11 victory in the third and final game of the series later Monday evening.
 
GAME ONE: GRAMBLING 20, ALCORN 8
Grambling State erupted for 20 runs and 17 hits Monday afternoon at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi, rolling past Alcorn 20-8 in a game that was halted April 24 and resumed to completion on Monday in the state capital due to field conditions in Lorman, Mississippi.
 
Grambling (16-25, 13-7 SWAC) sent eight different players across the plate at least once and drew 18 walks, turning a patient offensive approach into a lopsided SWAC victory.
 
Second baseman Shannon Martin was the offensive spark for the visiting Tigers, going 2-for-3 with five RBIs and three walks. Charles Ashe III matched his production with a 2-for-4 effort and four RBIs from his third base position defensively on the field, while Trey Bridges went 3-for-6 with five runs scored.
 
Aidan Lopez added three hits, a triple, and four runs scored out of the DH spot for the Tigers as well.
 
Grambling struck early and never truly relinquished control, plating five runs in the first inning on a chaotic sequence of errors, walks, and timely hitting. Martin's two-run single and Ashe's run-scoring double set the tone before James Woody tacked on an insurance run with a double to left-center.
 
Alcorn (8-35, 2-18 SWAC) briefly threatened to make things interesting in the third inning, sending six runners across the plate – capped by Christian Dunn's three-run double to center, pushing the Braves ahead at that point, 7-6.
 
However, the Braves surge was short-lived.
 
Cameron Hill silenced the comeback with a two-run homer to left field in the top of the fourth to put Grambling back on top for good at 8-7.
 
From there, Grambling starter Keevyn Goss was replaced by Payton Allen, who proceeded to stifle the Alcorn offense over the final six innings. The game, however, was called in the top of the sixth inning, suspended until Monday afternoon due to heavy storms moving into the Lorman, Mississippi area.
 
Allen, improving to 3-0 on the season, allowed just one run on three hits with seven strikeouts – that coming across two days, respectfully.
 
And the offense did not waste it.
 
The visitors added two more in the fifth on Ashe's single up the middle; one in the sixth on a Lopez triple; and then busted the game open with a four-run eighth inning fueled by four walks and a Lopez RBI double.
 
Grambling poured on five more in the ninth, highlighted by a Bridges two-run double and the heads-up baserunning of Hill and Bridges, who executed a double steal – Hill to second and Bridges stealing home – to cap the scoring.
 
Jacob Wingard absorbed the loss on the bump for the Purple and Gold, dropping to 0-6 after surrendering seven runs on five hits over four innings.
 
Dunn's three-RBI double and Jaylyn Bennett's two-hit, two-RBI day were the lone offensive bright spots for the Braves.
 
GAME TWO: ALCORN 12, GRAMBLING 11
Keatan Hawk homered twice and Rayfield Adams III drove in four runs as Alcorn held off Grambling State 12-11 Monday evening at Smith-Wills Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi, giving the Braves a measure of consolation after dropping the first two games of the series.
 
The victory improved Alcorn to 9-35 overall and 3-18 in SWAC play, respectively.
 
Hawk was the offensive engine for the Braves, going 3-for-3 with two solo home runs to right field before exiting the game in the fourth inning.
 
Adams carried the load after that, reaching base all four times he came to the plate and providing the go-ahead runs in a back-and-forth contest that featured four lead changes and three pitching changes by each club.
 
Grambling (16-26, 13-8 SWAC) looked poised to run away with it in the third inning, erupting for five runs capped by a two-run Charles Ashe III homer to left field that pushed the Tigers ahead 6-2.
 
But the host Braves answered immediately, sending four runs across in the bottom-half on Hawk's second home run of the game and a two-run Adams single to center that knotted things at 6-6.
 
The Purple and Gold then seized their second lead of the game in the fourth.
 
Hawk's second blast – also his second of the season – started the inning, and Jamir Hollway's two-run single through the left side, part of a four-run frame for the Braves, pushed Alcorn out to a 10-6 advantage that proved just large enough to survive what came next.
 
Grambling mounted a furious sixth-inning rally, sending nine men to the plate and scoring five times to stake an 11-10 lead heading into the bottom of the seventh frame.
 
Shannon Martin's run-scoring single to left-center tied it at 10-all, while Ryan Davis added an RBI on a sacrifice bunt to move the Tigers in front.
 
But Alcorn reliever Yoni Castro, who entered with two on and nobody out, slammed the door and never looked back.
 
Castro retired 12 of the final 14 batters he faced over four scoreless innings, striking out four to earn his first win of the campaign and improve to 1-4 overall.
 
The big advantage for the Braves came in the seventh when GSU's Cameron Hill dropped a fly ball in left field, allowing Adams to score the tying run. Catcher Nico Garcia added a sacrifice fly to make it 12-11, and Grambling could not respond over the final two innings against Castro.
 
GSU starter Trevor Esparza lasted just two innings, allowing five runs on eight hits. Rafael Capistran absorbed the loss, falling to 0-1 after surrendering two runs (one earned) in three innings of otherwise solid work.
 
The Purple and Gold return to Willie E. "Rat" McGowan Stadium on Wednesday, April 29, at 6 p.m., when the Braves play hist to the Georgia State Panthers for a single midweek nonconference game in Lorman, Mississippi.
 
Follow Alcorn State Sports on Twitter (@BravesSports) for all the latest news and updates. Follow us on Instagram (@AlcornSports) and YouTube (Braves Sports Network) for even further behind-the-scenes action across all Braves Athletics.