Juan Marulanda threw a five-hitter, striking out 11 hitters to spark the Jackson State baseball team to a 13-0 win over Alcorn Friday night at Braddy Field.
Jaelen Williams hit his first home run of the season, and Jatavis Melton and Ty Hill each had two hits in the non-conference series opener.
In the third inning with two outs, El’Rico Riley’s single between a pair of Alcorn defenders scored Melton, who had walked and stole second base, to put JSU on the board. On a 1-0 pitch, Williams homered to left field to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.
In the fifth, Williams reached on an error to lead off the inning, advanced to second on a wild pitch, and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt. After Gavon Clemmons was hit by a pitch, Colby Guy reached on an error and advanced to second on the throw, scoring Williams. Jefrey Rodriguez then singled, scoring Clemmons and Guy for a 6-0 JSU lead. Following a pair of walks to load the bases, Rodriguez scored on a throwing error to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead.
That was more than enough for Marulanda, who threw 78 of 115 pitchers for strikes, walking only one batter in the complete-game win.
“Juan did a really good job,” said JSU head coach Omar Johnson. “He pitched well last week (allowing two hits and one run with eight strikeouts in a 3-2 win over Prairie View). He showed signs in the fall that he was going to be able to compete for us, and I’m happy to see him come out and have success.”
The Tigers (6-5) add a pair of runs in the seventh inning and four in the eighth for the final margin. JSU had 10 hits in the game and took advantage of 11 walks and three errors by Alcorn (0-5).
“We capitalized on some of their mistakes,” Johnson said. “After they made the mistake defensively, we hit the home run. When we got a walk, then we followed with a double. That’s how college baseball goes, being able to capitalize on the other teams’ mistakes.”