Each season, HBCU collegiate baseball teams are permitted 56 games and most of them take place in the spring. However, the NCAA and the NAIA allow teams to hold some of those games during the fall as exhibition matches. Therefore, a team could choose to have 2 games in the fall and 54 during the spring.
Ordinarily, teams take just one game for the fall season in order to have more games that count in the long run. In order to prepare for these exhibition matches, the NCAA and NAIA allows teams to have 27 practices in September and October.
This year, head coach Melvin Marshall is preparing his Paine College for Fall Ball.
Fall ball provides a great opportunity for teams to develop chemistry and practice before the regular season gets underway. If this year’s Fall Ball is any indication of more success to come, the Lions must be anxious to keep up that momentum heading into the 2023 season.
Baseball is back and the Lions have started Fall Ball with the Purple and White scrimmages.
Paine baseball is coming back from a 19-16 season a year ago which included an NCCAA South Regional Championship appearance after not having any athletic programs the previous 2 years.
With a short term of 4 months to recruit and establish a team for the 2021-22 season, coach Marshall put together a winning program. The team was loaded with 13 freshmen. There were 6 seniors that were affected by the Covid pandemic year that returned for their senior seasons.
Returning top players from the 2021-22 season are NCCAA All Region players, short stop Denny Daza, catcher Alejandro Fernandez, and outfielders Dominic Page and Jaylan Davis. Denny Daza led the team in batting with an average of .421. Also, a fielding percentage of .980. Alejandro Fernandez was solid behind the dish with throwing out 27 out of 28 runners for the year. Dominique Page led the Lions in home runs and slugging percentage. He was the strength of the middle of the lineup. Jaylan Davis brings the speed at the top half of the lineup. He stole 24 out of 25 bags in the 2021-22 season. Due to injury that sat him out for a few games, he would have reached the 30 stolen base mark.
With hard work and preparation this fall you can look for the Lions to have another decent season in 2022-23. Expect nothing less in Augusta, Georgia.