Alcorn State baseball secured a 4-1 victory over Southern-New Orleans at Willie E. “Rat” McGowan Stadium in Lorman, Mississippi, Tuesday afternoon. The non-conference game marked the Braves’ home opener, and they took an early lead that they maintained throughout the contest.
Alcorn scored twice in the first inning, with first baseman Cooper Harris driving in the first run with a single to left. Rayfield Adams III, who drew a walk to start the inning, scored from second. In the second inning, the Braves extended their lead with two more runs. Jamir Hollway walked and stole second before Adams drew another walk. Jaylyn Bennett then hit a two-run double to deep centerfield, bringing in Hollway and Adams.
Southern-New Orleans responded in the third, with Avery Spriggs singling and later scoring on Kyler Shepherd’s groundout to cut the deficit to 3-1. However, the Knights could not score again. Kanious Davis pinch-hit and singled to left, driving in Asher Friedman for the final run of the game.
Braves pitcher Myles Dews earned the win in relief, working four scoreless innings with three hits allowed, one walk and three strikeouts. Starter Nicholas Johnson pitched four innings, allowing one run on one hit with seven strikeouts. The save was credited to Hayden Konkler, who faced the minimum in the ninth, striking out two batters.
At the plate, Bennett and Friedman each went 2-for-4 for Alcorn, with Bennett driving in two runs and Friedman scoring a run. For SUNO, Avery Spriggs led with a 2-for-2 effort. Alcorn will travel to Macon, Georgia, for a three-game series against Mercer starting Friday at 6 p.m. ET.
