SU baseball out played again

Southern got pounded by Alcorn Wednesday night at Lee-Hines field 16-12, as the Braves enjoyed a seven run eighth inning, handing the Jaguars their sixth loss.
The Jaguars (3-6, 3-0 SWAC) have been outplayed numerous times in this short season, most notably by UCLA and USC.
In the UCLA game played in Jackie Robinson Stadium, SU allowed the Bruins 13 hits and 11 runs. Then, against USC, SU yielded 13 runs on nine hits, but gave the Trojans a game getting nine runs of its own on 11 hits.
In fact, SU lead 8-5 going into the eighth inning when the Trojans erupted scoring eight runs to go ahead 13-5, ultimately taking the contest 13-6.
That’s pretty good for a team from the Southwestern Athletic Conference taking on a team in the top 25 in Los Angeles.
“Our offense has been good for the most part, but we’ve continued to struggle pitching,” said SU coach Roger Cador. “If we develop quality pitching we’ll be fine.”
In SU’s most recent loss, the Jaguars were outplayed again, but they didn’t give up.
Despite a seven run eighth inning by the Braves, battled back in the ninth to score three runs before Charles Hall struck out looking to end the game.
The eighth inning was the one that sunk SU’s ship, as Jabari Graham singled brought in Adrian Bowen pushing the score to 10-9 and Jeff Jones doubled to right-field scoring Brandon Pearce and Graham, stretching Alcorn’s already swelling lead to 12-9.
Two batters later the Braves got two more runs as Jesse Buchanan blasted a two run homer into left-field giving Alcorn a 14-9 advantage. Then, after singles by Joel Del Grande and David Reed, Terrell Johnson doubled off Joseph Hughes putting the Braves ahead 16-9.
The top of the eighth was more than enough reason to throw in the towel, but if didn’t do it, then the scoreless bottom of the eight should have, but it didn’t.
Instead SU rebounded to hold Alcorn scoreless in the ninth, with three of the Braves’ first four batters grounding out.
SU went on to score three runs in the bottom of the inning as Machael Gavion scored on a Romey Bracey single putting the score at 16-10. Brad McDavid doubled on the next play scoring Bracey to bring the score to 16-11 and Juan Mujica stole home-plate on a wild pitch by Lee Johnson turning the score to 16-12 before Charles Hall struck out looking ending the game.
“We didn’t give up,” Cador said. “That’s the most important thing, because they kept fighting and wanted to come back. That’s something we can build upon.”
So, if anything, SU showed the necessary fight, determination and grit to pull itself back into the game and challenge an Alcorn team that pounded it the inning before, but came up short.
SU takes on Texas Southern in a weekend series Saturday and Sunday at Lee-Hines Field. Both games are scheduled for 12 noon. Hopefully SU doesn’t forget to bring that fight against the Tigers.