DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Mississippi Valley State University baseball program currently sits two games back of Jackson State for the final SWAC Tournament slot with five weekends to go but will need to kick it into high gear beginning with this weekend’s trip to Bethune-Cookman.
What You Need to Know
Time and Dates: Friday, April 22 (2 p.m.) | Saturday, April 23 (1 p.m.) | Sunday, April 24 (11 a.m.)
Records: Mississippi Valley State (9-15-1, 3-10 SWAC) | Bethune-Cookman (16-20, 10-5 SWAC)
Location: Daytona Beach, Florida – Bethune Point
Series History: Bethune-Cookman Leads 2-1
Last Meetings: April 1-3, 2022 | Bethune-Cookman Won Series 2-1 (Combined 22-17) | Itta Bena, Mississippi (Magnolia Field)
Winning Streak: Bethune-Cookman (W1) | Mississippi Valley State’s Last Win: April 2, 2022 (3-2)
Mississippi Valley State Overview
Just like they have been all season, MVSU has maintained its spot as a top-ten stolen base threat in the NCAA as a team, swiping an average of 2.24 bags per contest and a top-45 total of 56. Their offense currently slots among the 85-best across the country as it sports a batting average of .285 and scores 7.1 runs a night.
Dreylin Holmes should consider trying a singing career because his bat has provided a ton of “pop” . . . actually just stick to baseball Drey. The middle-of-the-order masher is the top home run hitter in the SWAC as he’s launched nine taters for an average of 0.39 which ranks top-25 nationwide with a top-30 slugging percentage to boot (0.736). He has also shown a knack for getting on-base as he has reached safely in the past 21 games straight while commandeering a ten-game hitting streak along the way.
Maury Weaver is still flying around the bases with 18 steals in 20 attempts (90%) with his 0.75 steal per ballgame rate being eighth-highest in the NCAA.
The fundamental art of the sacrifice bunt has not been lost on Narvin Booker out of the ninth slot as of late, ranking in the country’s top-40 bunters with four, but he would have more if not for his speedy skillset which has caused either errors or infield singles as a result as well.
Calvin McClendon takes the mantle of best ERA on the club at 4.14 plus a WHIP of 1.60 and an H/9 of 7.49, Isaiah Valenzuela has the best walk ratio at a 5.77 BB/9, and Hunter Stallings has taken batters prisoner with a staff leading 35 Ks while averaging more than a strikeout per inning pitched at 10.05 (K/9).
Scouting The Opponent: Bethune-Cookman Wildcats
Since its foray into The Delta a few weeks ago, B-CU has been swept by Florida A&M, did the sweeping of Alabama A&M, and lost mid-week tilts with Stetson (7-3) plus #5 Miami (9-0).
The Maroon and Gold have predominantly relied on its pitching to do the heavy lifting and keep Bethune within striking distance of the division title, recording the top strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.19) and BB/9 (4.14) in the conference on top of a top-three WHIP (1.54) and K/9 (9.1).
At the forefront is Louis Lipthratt with a SWAC-low 1.08 WHIP, the fourth-best H/9 (6.99), fifth-lowest ERA (3.34), and sixth-most strikeouts (54).
The hitting has been led primarily by Christopher Patterson (.302 average, 23 walks) and Matthew Garcia (.296 average, 22 RBIs, 15 XBH) with sprinkles of power thrown in by both Boris Pena (four homers) plus Brian Perez and Malik Stephens (19 doubles combined).
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.
