Baseball Hosts High-Flying Hornets In Pre-Easter Showdown
ITTA BENA, Miss. – The Mississippi Valley State University baseball program will attempt to slow down the hottest team in the conference as first-place ASU rolls into The Delta on a seven-game SWAC winning streak.
Coach Stanley Stubbs’ men started the season not even on the radar for the Black College Nines’ Large School HBCU Top-Ten but have received votes in all three editions since, climbing as high as sixth on March 20th.
What You Need to Know
Time and Dates: Friday, April 15 (1 & 4 p.m.) | Saturday, April 16 (12 p.m.)
Records: Mississippi Valley State (9-14-1, 3-9 SWAC) | Alabama State (19-14, 10-2 SWAC)
Location: Itta Bena, Mississippi – Magnolia Field
Series History: N/A
Last Meetings: March 19-21, 2021 | Alabama State Swept Series 3-0 (Combined 32-3) | Montgomery, Alabama (Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex)
Winning Streak: Alabama State (W9) | Mississippi Valley State’s Last Win: March 2, 2019 (12-11, 10 Innings, Game 1)
Mississippi Valley State Overview
The second-fastest team in the SWAC makes its home at Magnolia Field as the speedy Devils average 2.33 steals a game, the seventh-most in the nation. They also rank in the conference’s top-five for batting average (.287), slugging percentage (.395), homers per contest (0.58), and scoring (7.0).
Dreylin Holmes has been a man amongst boys in 2022 and is on track to be SWAC Newcomer of the Year as he leads the league with eight home runs and homers a night (0.36) while slotting in the top-45 nationwide for slugging percentage (.723). The Georgian sports a team-high .337 batting average, 28 hits, 23 runs scored, ten walks, six doubles, and five multi-RBI contests while currently riding an impressive 20-game on-base streak on top of a nine-game hit streak as well.
If we were casting an Avengers Movie, then Holmes would be The Hulk while Maury Weaver could play as The Flash. Weaver has been caught just twice over 20 stolen base attempts for a 90% success rating with his 0.78 steals per game and 18 swipes ranking sixth and 22nd in the NCAA, respectively.
Davon Mims is the Delta Devils’ current leader regarding multi-hit outings, posting eight such performances and an exquisite .315 average at the plate.
Circling back to the Avengers theme would see Calvin McClendon as an Iron Man of sorts, recording the most innings by far on the ballclub with 45.2 frames and the lowest batting average allowed at .236 as he’s notched two wins plus an ERA below 4.15 (4.14).
Scouting The Opponent: Alabama State Hornets
Bama State enters the weekend ahead of FAMU by a single game for the SWAC East divisional lead and has been impressive of late with four wins-in-a-row via a three-game sweep over the rival Bulldogs before taking down perennial Sun Belt contender South Alabama on Tuesday.
The Black & Gold insects have been an all-around squad that can beat you in many facets as they are top-50 in the country regarding walks (162), on-base percentage (.396), runs scored (240), sacrifice bunts (20) and shutouts (3) as well as tops in the SWAC for WHIP (1.49), ERA (4.88) plus fielding percentage (.965).
Breon Pooler is the current league leader in both wins (6) and earned run average (2.25) while his staff mate Payton Harris lags not far behind with a 2.55 ERA and three saves out of the pen.
In the hitting department it has been the Hunter May show so far as Preseason All-SWAC First Team catcher is fourth in the nation with 16 doubles, leads the SWAC in walks, and registers both a top-five on-base (.483) and slugging percentage (.616).
Your financial support, whether it be through purchasing season tickets, making an annual donation or committing to a major gift, directly benefits Valley’s student-athletes in the classroom and in sports.
