Pitching and hitting dominated this past weekend action as witnessed by a walk-off home run and several pitching gems as Black College Nines (BCN) continues week two of its season long coverage of Who’s Hot In HBCU Baseball.
Week Two…
Morehouse College
The Maroon Tigers opened its 2020 season with Tuskegee University. Two storied Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) foes in one of HBCU Baseball oldest rivalry dating back to the 1890s.
Grant Bennett had an awesome weekend at the plate and on the mound. In game one against the Golden Tigers, Bennett belted a seventh inning grand slam in a 9-7 loss. In game two, he went two for three at the plate, added two more home runs, scored two runs and drove home three runs. Picked up the 8-3 win on the hill (1-0) in four innings of one run ball. In the two-game series, smacked three home runs and added seven rbi..
Jarvis Christian College
The Bulldog baseball team picked up its first win on opening day by defeating Sterling College earning a 9-3 victory in game one.
Starting pitcher Phillip Griego was masterful pitching five innings giving up four hits, one run, one earned run, while striking out four batters.
In that same game, Armond Barrios was three for four at the plate. In the three game weekend series, JCC took two of three, in ten at bats Barrios had a .500 batting average, scored one run, collected five hits, two doubles, two runs batted in and stole three bases.
Albany State University
In the second game of the season, the Golden Rams baseball team cruised to a 5-4 victory over Emmanuel College for its first win of the season.
Malik Barrington started his first game of the season for the Golden Rams on the mound pitching four innings, allowing only three hits, two runs, and six strikeouts in a 5-4 victory over Emmanuel College.
Talladega College
The Tornados won two games against two ranked teams in the NAIA Top 25 Coaches poll in a season opening tournament in Dayton, TN.
Wilkin Louis put up impressive offensive stats. In fifteen at bats, produced eight hits, scored three runs, a double, drove home six runs, stole one base and had a .600 slugging percentage.
Edward Waters College
The Tigers baseball team picked up a four game split with Bluefield College over the weekend, winning games one and four of the series (2-2) overall.
In the series finale, EWC pitcher Manny Guerra pitched a gem on the mound in a 11-1 win. In seven innings, his first outing of the season, struck out 13 batters with just one earned run.
In four games:
Senior first baseman Cayden Frankie had six hits, three doubles, and five runs batted in.
Junior outfielder Damani Thomas produced seven hits, two doubles, one triple, two home runs and seven runs driven in. In the 11-1 win, Thomas’ double, triple and home run was a single shy of hitting for the cycle.
Texas College
The Steers baseball team played for the first time in their new home park which also marks the first time a college baseball game has been played at Woldert Park in over 60 years.
In that game, sophomore third baseman Jayson Jimenez was two for four with two runs. He hit a walk off home run to give Texas College a 5-4 victory in game one vs Sterling College.