OXFORD, Miss. – Alcorn Baseball is set to take on its second Top 25 opponent of the 2026 campaign on Tuesday, as the Braves travel to No. 25 Ole Miss for a nonconference midweek matchup at Oxford-University Stadium / Swayze Field in Oxford, Mississippi. First pitch is slated for 6:30 p.m.
 
Last season, the Braves fell by a 29-1 margin in seven innings at Swayze Field to then sixth-ranked Ole Miss as the hosts hit five home runs, including two from Luke Cheng. Returning letterwinners Clayvonjae Wright and Kanious Davis each amassed a hit in that contest for the Braves.
 
What: Game Thirty-Three
Who: Alcorn (7-25) vs. No. 25 Mississippi (22-11)
When: Tuesday, April 7, at 6:30 p.m. CST
Where: Oxford, Miss. – Oxford-University Stadium / Swayze Field (11,477)
 
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IN THE RANKINGS
▪ Alcorn is not ranked in any of this week's five major polls
▪ Mississippi is ranked in one of the five major polls entering the week – D1Baseball (25)
 
STATS & NOTES
▪ Alcorn enters the midweek having dropped six games on the bounce, and with the Braves last win against a Division I opponent being an 8-6 decision away to Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opponent Alabama A&M back on March 14.
▪ Already this season, Alcorn has bested last year's wins total with seven, having posted just six a season ago in Carlton Hardy's first year at the helm in Lorman. The team also had just six wins in 2024, respectfully.
▪ Jaylyn Bennett tops the Braves in batting average (.365), using a team-high 35 hits and team-high tying six (6) doubles.
▪ Cooper Harris and Gavin Caston top the Purple and Gold in home runs with two apiece.
▪ Freshman left-hander Devin Kriley didn't get a decision in his last start versus Mississippi Valley State, but he worked 4.2 innings, allowing five runs (two earned) on four hits and turned in five strikeouts. It was his third game of the year with at least five strikeouts.
▪ Despite a 10.20 ERA, the Alcorn pitching staff has amassed 191 strikeouts across the campaign – ninth-best in the SWAC.
▪ Bennett has been hit by a pitch the fourth-most times of any SWAC player with 11.
▪ As a unit, the Purple and Gold have swiped 66 bases in 81 attempts. The team-leader is Kanious Davis with 16, allowing him to tie for third in the league in that category.
▪ Additionally, Bennett enters the midweek game at Ole Miss riding a six-game hitting streak. Keaten Hawk follows with four games intact, as well as three from Cooper Harris.
▪ In all, Bennett has reached base in 22 consecutive games, while Hawk has reached in nine straight, respectively.
▪ The Braves are 1-1 on the year in extra-inning games, having won a 10-inning thriller against Jackson State in a nonconference game as part of opening weekend, while also falling in a SWAC contest last week to MVSU.
▪ Alcorn's last weekend series win came March 7-9, 2025, as the Braves defeated Alabama A&M two out of three games in Huntsville, Alabama, with the games being nonconference in nature. The last SWAC series win for the Braves was taking two-of-three from Arkansas-Pine Bluff in 2024.
▪ Rayfield Adams III has stolen 11-of-12 bases on the campaign, while teammate Hawk has tallied steals in 11-of-13 total attempts.
 
QUOTES FROM COACH HARDY
"Anytime you get an opportunity to go play a ranked program like Ole Miss, you embrace it. We know it's going to be a tough environment, but our guys are excited about the challenge."
 
"They're ranked for a reason. They've got talented players, a great coaching staff, and they play in front of a great home crowd at a phenomenal venue and setting. We have a lot of respect for what they've built over there in Oxford, and how they've sustained it throughout the years and just keep elevating it year-in, year-out."
 
"We can't go up there and be intimidated by the moment. We've got to play Alcorn Baseball – play loose, compete pitch by pitch, and see where it takes us. If we do that, I like our chances to try and make it interesting."
 
"These are the kind of games that build your program. You go into a place like Swayze Field and compete, and it lets your guys know what the standard looks like at the highest level. We want to use this as fuel."
 
SCOUTING OLE MISS (22-11, 5-7 SEC)
Rankings: D1Baseball.com – 25
Head Coach: Mike Bianco (26th season)
2026 Batting Average: .256; Runs Per Game: 6.5; Hits Per Game: 8.1; Slugging Percentage: .452
2026 ERA: 3.75; K/BB Ratio: 3.3; Opp. Batting Avg: .236
 
NOTING THE REBELS
▪ Three different players are hitting above .300 for the Rebels – Tristan Bissetta (.320), Judd Utermark (.303) and Will Furniss (.302).
▪ Ole Miss comes into the week having collected a big series win in comeback fashion against the nationally ranked Florida Gators over the weekend in Southeastern Conference (SEC) play.
▪ Bissetta and Utermark have combined for 27 of the Rebels' 52 home runs on the season.
▪ Hunter Elliott is one of the best pitchers in the SEC with a 3-1 record, and an ERA of 3.79 for the year. He has also registered a team-high 60 strikeouts.
▪ As a unit, the Ole Miss pitching staff has an ERA of 3.75, while the Rebels work the opposing pitchers to a 6.58 ERS, respectfully.
▪ Ole Miss has lost six of its last 10 games, including a series sweeping defeat at home to No. 6 Mississippi State a week ago. The stretch also includes a 6-2 midweek loss away to Memphis (March 24).
▪ However, the Rebels have not dropped a midweek game at home all season, taking a 7-4 victory from Little Rock last week.
 
RECAPPING ALCORN'S LAST GAME (vs. Mississippi Valley State)
Mississippi Valley State scored in six of nine innings and held off a furious Alcorn comeback attempt 13-10 in the finale of a SWAC series Thursday afternoon at Willie E. "Rat" McGowan Stadium, handing the Braves a tough defeat in a game delayed one hour and nine minutes due to weather.
 
Mississippi Valley State jumped on Alcorn starter Devin Kriley early, plating three runs in the top of the first inning.
 
Cody Leming doubled home Tanner Aoki to get things started, and Chris Soeder followed with an RBI double of his own before scoring on a passed ball to put Mississippi Valley ahead 3-0.
 
Alcorn answered with a run in the bottom of the first on a sacrifice fly by Keatan Hawk that scored Kanious Davis, but the Braves' most memorable swing of the afternoon came in the fourth inning when Gavin Caston launched a two-run home run to left field – the first by any Braves performer at home this season, scoring Chase Moore and giving Alcorn its first lead of the game at 4-3.
 
However, the Purple and Gold lead was short-lived.
 
The Delta Devils' designated hitter Tom Early tripled down the line in left to plate two runs and put the visitors back in front 5-4.
 
MVSU extended its advantage out to 7-4 in the top of the sixth inning on a two-error inning that proved costly for the Braves, and upped the lead at 9-5 in the seventh on two more unearned runs.
 
Alcorn refused to go quietly.
 
The Braves chipped away throughout the final innings, pulling as close as 13-10 in the ninth on a two-run single by centerfielder Rayfield Adams III that scored Chase Moore and Nico Garcia, respectively. But MVSU had added an insurance run in the top of the ninth on a Gabe Huelsing single and a costly Alcorn fielding error, and the Braves could not complete the comeback, stranding two runners to end the game.
 
Kriley, a freshman for the Purple and Gold, took the loss, falling to 0-6 after surrendering five runs (two earned) while scattering four hits over 4.2 innings with five walks and five strikeouts.
 
Logan Darnell earned the win for the Delta Devils, improving to 2-3 after tossing 3.2 innings of relief.
 
Alcorn finished with 12 hits but was hurt by four errors and eight walks allowed. Davis led the Braves offensively, going 2-for-5 with an RBI and three stolen bases. Moore contributed a 3-for-5 effort with three runs scored, while left fielder Gavin Caston drove in two runs and scored twice as well.
 
Adams added two RBIs on the day for the Braves offensive attack, respectfully.
 
For Mississippi Valley, Early went 2-for-5 with four RBIs, and Leming finished 3-for-6 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Aoki reached base four times via walk and scored three runs.
 
UP NEXT
The Braves return to SWAC play traveling to Texas Southern for a three-game series in Houston, Texas, taking place April 10-12.
 
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