JACKSON, Miss. – Alcorn stays within the "Magnolia State" this weekend traveling to Jackson State for a three-game Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Baseball series at Braddy Field in Jackson, Mississippi. The series is set to begin on Saturday, May 2, at 3 p.m.
 
THE SCHEDULE
Saturday, May 2
3 p.m. – at Jackson State | Braddy Field | Jackson, Miss. | Live Stats | Watch | Tickets
 
Sunday, May 3
1 p.m. – at Jackson State | Braddy Field | Jackson, Miss. | Live Stats | Watch | Tickets
 
Monday, May 4
TBA – at Jackson State | Braddy Field | Jackson, Miss. | Live Stats | Watch | Tickets
 
IN THE RANKINGS
▪ Alcorn is not ranked in any of this week's five major polls
▪ Jackson State is not ranked in any of this week's five major polls
 
STATS & NOTES
▪ Alcorn is led in batting by Jaylyn Bennett with a .341 average, while shortstop Asher Friedman is batting .303 on the year as well – second highest on the Purple and Gold.
▪ In his last outing, right fielder Keaten Hawk registered two home runs at Smith-Wills Stadium against Grambling State.
▪ Rayfield Adams III leads the Braves with 16 stolen bases in 17 attempts. He also owns a .428 on-base percentage to go along with a .328 slugging average.
▪ Adams has drawn a team-high 27 walks across the campaign.
▪ Serving as an outfielder and pitcher, Kanious Davis has drawn 25 walks and scored a team-high 32 runs.
▪ On the mound, Davis is 3-3 on the year with 10 appearances and 27 strikeouts.
▪ Freshman Devin Kriley leads the Purple and Gold with 36 strikeouts in 36.1 innings worked.
▪ Hawk has reached base safely in 21 consecutive games, followed by Adams (12).
 
ALCORN VS. JACKSON STATE SERIES
▪ Since 2013, Jackson State leads the all-time series 56-15.
▪ The two sides have already met twice this season in nonconference matchups, as the Braves took an 8-7 victory in the final game of the HBCU Power Series on the opening weekend of the year.
▪ Jackson State won 25 consecutive in the series from February 2020 through April 28, 2025, respectively.
▪ Jackson State took a close 7-6 decision from Alcorn at McGowan Stadium in the second game of a Sunday doubleheader on April 27, 2025.
▪ The last time Alcorn claimed a series win from JSU was March 2014, with the Braves winning two-of-three in Jackson.
 
QUOTES FROM COACH HARDY
"This is a big series for us. Jackson State is always a big series, against a big competitor, and it always carries a lot of momentum with it for both teams. SWAC road games at this point in the season carry a lot of weight, and our guys understand that."
 
"Every series from here on out has postseason implications. We know what's at stake and our guys are focused and ready to compete. This stretch of the schedule is where seasons are defined. We want to go down to Jackson and take care of business."
 
SCOUTING JACKSON STATE (19-23, 9-12 SWAC)
Rankings: D1Baseball.com – NR | USA Today Coaches – NR
Head Coach: Omar Johnson (20th season)
2026 Batting Average: .303; Runs Per Game: 7.6; Hits Per Game: 10.1; Slugging Percentage: .431
2026 ERA: 7.85; K/BB Ratio: 1.38; Opp. Batting Avg: .274
 
NOTING THE TIGERS
▪ Six different players are hitting .300 or better for Jackson State, including Tyree Reed (.371), Pierre Cabral (.337) and Edwin Lemus Hudson Jr. (.331) at the top.
▪ Robert Tate Jr. has a heavy bat for the Tigers, leading the team with 60 hits on the campaign.
▪ Reed leads the Tigers in the home runs category with eight, followed directly by Cabral with seven to his name.
▪ Both Jayden Lopez and Derek Arrocha have recorded four wins each on the bump for JSU, with Lopez owning a 6.53 ERA as well.
▪ Across 60 innings, Arrocha has registered a team-high 65 strikeouts for the Tigers.
▪ Hudson enters the weekend series working on a 19-game streak in which he's reached base safely.
 
RECAPPING ALCORN'S LAST GAME (vs. Grambling State)
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.
 
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 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.
 
UP NEXT
Alcorn returns home for the penultimate series of the regular season as the Braves welcome Prairie View A&M to "The Reservation" for a three-game SWAC series beginning Friday, May 8, at 6 p.m. CDT.
 
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