Southern baseball outlasts Alcorn State

• Advocate staff report
• Published: Mar 26, 2008 - UPDATED: 7 a.m.

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LORMAN, Miss. — Southern and Alcorn State combined for another score-a-thon, with the visiting Jaguars taking the rematch, 13-9, on Tuesday night in college baseball action.

“We split, and we both scored 25 runs,” Southern coach Roger Cador said. “Amazing, isn’t it?”

The games, between teams in opposite divisions in the Southwestern Athletic Conference, do not count toward divisional standings.

Alcorn (16-4) has lost three of its last four games after putting together a 14-game winning streak that included the victory earlier in the month at Southern.

Southern (8-9) — without catcher Michael Thomas (knee), outfielder Brad McDavid (suspension), shortstop Jesse Olivar (ankle) and outfielder Juan Mujica (ankle) and playing first baseman Calvin Anderson (wrist, hamstring) for half the game — scored the first 11 runs and then held on.

“We really used a patchwork lineup, but it worked,” Cador said. “We gave some kids a chance to play and they did a good job.”

Leading the way for Southern, outfielder Victor Franklin was 2-for-3 with six RBIs — a bases-clearing double for all three runs in the first inning and a bases-clearing triple for three of the four runs in the third.

Plus, Romey Bracey went 4-for-6, while James Armstrong was 2-for-4, with his first home run of the season.

SU got its second strong start from junior Sherrard Brooks (2-0), who struck out seven and didn’t walk any in six innings.

True freshman Kyle Wahl, in his seventh appearance this season, was also solid, with three hits, four strikeouts and a run in 2 2/3 innings.

“We needed someone else, and he threw the ball well,” Cador said. “In order for us to be successful (in the SWAC tournament in May), we can’t be shortsighted. We have to keep running people out there to see if we can depend on them.”

Brooks also got plenty of run support again. A week earlier, he led SU to a 19-5 rout of Coppin State.