It is difficult to make any statement about any teams since the season is just three weeks old. This past weekend there was noticeable improvement that led to some sweeps. Most teams have some work to do.
The following is our large school HBCU baseball weekend in review…
Coppin State (2-6) – has shown some positive strides in the early going. Coppin took a pair from Mount St. Mary’s as the pitching staff held its own on the road over the weekend. Offensively, the Eagles scored 22 runs which could be a sign that the bats are starting to crank it up.
Delaware State (0-2) – season just got under way.
Florida A&M (0-11) – The NCAA Division I No. 5 ranked University of Florida Gators took four games from FAMU. The Rattlers have lost every series this season and are on a 11 game losing streak. Pitching needs to step up in order for FAMU to find success.
Norfolk State (2-8) – The Spartans were swept in three games from a surging North Carolina Central team. Though picked by the MEAC to win the conference, early returns are not positive. Still early in the season.
North Carolina A&T (4-7) – Coach Ben Hall got the campaign off on the right foot this weekend taking two of three non-conference games from The Citadel.
North Carolina Central (7-3) – The Eagles blasted Norfolk State sweeping the three-game series. I think they are a bit of a sleeper… gritty team.
Alabama State (1-8) – The Hornets received a rude awakening this past weekend. The stay at the top will be short lived for HBCU baseball’s pre-season No. 1, thanks to No. 2 Jackson State, losing all three home games… though all three were lost by one run each game!
Alcorn State (3-0) – Improved this season and the early returns are positive. Alcorn took three from Mississippi Valley State scoring 39 runs.
Grambling State (0-7) – The Tigers were humbled in its opening conference weekend when they lost three to Southern University. Two of the losses were by one run.
Jackson State (6-5) – Omar Johnson’s squad went three up against the Hornets of Alabama State sweeping the defending HBCU national champs. The No. 2 Tigers’ pitching staff is starting to come around.
Mississippi Valley State (0-5) – Pitching is not missing too many bats at this early point in the season.
Prairie View (0-8) – Unable to get going in its Southwestern Athletic Conference opening series at Texas Southern, dropping three games over the weekend to the Tigers by scores of 3-2, 9-3 and 7-2.
Southern University (4-6) – Had a good weekend. Everything clicked. Swept their three-game series against arch rival Grambling.
Texas Southern (3-9) – The weekend provided a clearer look as the Tigers appear to be one of the better teams in the SWAC. Swept Prairie View.
In the true sense, we actually named the final poll leader the “2020 Shortened Season HBCU Baseball Poll Champion”, unlike previous years when we selected the final poll leader as the “National Champion”. If you want an explanation why we even named “champions” last year, you can read it here. In part it reads…
“Though the season did not play out in its entirety, Black College Nines feels that teams, players and coaching staffs still deserve some recognition for the hard work and dedication from fall until the termination of the season in mid-March.”
In 2019, we did in fact name Southern our “large school” national champion… found here.
Your article states that Alabama State is the defending National Champs. How is that possible when there was only an abbreviated 2020 season. Additionally Southern University holds the last SWAC Championship title which was 2019 (last full season).