Roosevelt Makes History With Dominance Against Alcorn State

LORMAN, Miss. – Roosevelt baseball arrived in Lorman, Mississippi with one win against an NCAA Division I program to its credit. The Lakers left Mississippi with three more on their resume courtesy of Alcorn State over the weekend.

The Braves struggled to quiet the Lakers' bats all weekend as Roosevelt (5-3) took three of four from Alcorn State in a road series. The victories join a 6-1 win over the University of Illinois Chicago on March 13, 2013 as the only wins over an NCAA Division I opponent in Roosevelt history.

In a sign of things to come, the Lakers scored three runs in the first inning of Friday's game and didn't turn back. Even though Alcorn State scored three in the bottom of the first off Kerry Zeese, the senior settled in and didn't allow another run over seven innings to earn his second win of the young season as Roosevelt ran off with a 15-3 victory. The Lakers scored in six of their nine innings at the plate and pounded out 13 hits off the Braves' pitching.

Each of the top-four batters in the lineup Friday picked up multiple hits, led by Sean Blanchard and Daniel Gutierrez who each had three. Both hitters had RBI doubles in the first inning to help the Lakers take the early lead. Blanchard went 3 for 6 with four runs scored and three RBIs in the victory while Gutierrez was 3 for 5 with three runs scored and two RBIs. Diego Munoz drove in three runs with a bases-clearing double in the seventh to cap off a five-run seventh inning that put the game out of reach.

Alcorn State bounced back to take the second game of the series 6-5 to start off Saturday's doubleheader. Hunter Darst and Bryce Hayman both had two hits in the seven-inning contest in which it felt like the Lakers simply ran out of time.

With Roosevelt trailing 3-2 entering the top of the sixth inning, Blanchard started the frame with a single up the middle. Darst followed with a single that helped pinch runner Luca Paolucci advance to third before Sherman Martin brought him home with a single. Jaylen Heard gave Roosevelt the lead with an RBI sacrifice fly that scored Darst then Martin sped home after the Braves catcher overthrew the second baseman trying to catch Ben Compton stealing.

The Braves struck back with three runs in the bottom of the sixth to reclaim the lead before Gutierrez was caught stealing to end the game in the seventh. That did not slow down the Lakers, however, who scored once in the first inning of Saturday's second game and scored 15 runs across the first four innings of the third game in the series to cruise to a 15-0 win.

Gutierrez led the way with four RBIs while going a perfect 3 for 3 at the dish for Roosevelt. The shortstop scored the game's first run on a passed ball after doubling into right field then advancing to third on a throwing error. JoJo Mack doubled the lead with an RBI double in the second then Gutierrez scored Mack with a single to right field.

The 13 hits and 15 runs were more than enough for Bryan Green, who threw a complete-game gem to earn the victory. The senior scattered four hits and struck out six Alcorn State hitters in his seven innings on the mound while throwing just 78 pitches and facing just 24 batters. Roosevelt turned double plays to end the third, sixth and seventh innings as Alcorn State stranded just three runners on base.

Roosevelt was in full control of Sunday's series finale as well until some wackiness in the ninth cut the final score to 8-5. The Braves scored four of their runs and recorded six of their hits in the final inning before Krzysztof Solis shut the door after seven strong innings from Omar Abuelhija. The junior allowed just one run and five hits in seven innings of work, striking out four hitters to earn his first win of the season.

Darst drove in three runs on a 2 for 3 day for him at the plate while Blanchard went 3 for 5 with an RBI. Compton made his only hit of the day count with a two-run single in the third inning to break a 1-1 tie. Roosevelt added four more runs in the fifth before Darst's RBI single in the sixth provided the Lakers with their final run of the day.

The Lakers are scheduled to play their home opener Wednesday at Ozinga Field against Wisconsin Parkside at 3 p.m. before departing for their annual spring break trip. Roosevelt will play seven games in Florida from March 5-10, starting with a noon first pitch against Lawrence Tech at Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale, Fla. on March 5.