NCAA: Alcorn State to Face Rice in Houston Regional

Lorman, MS - The Alcorn State Braves will face Rice University Friday at 6PM at Reckling Park on the campus of Rice, in Houston, Texas in one of many NCAA Regionals.

The Braves, making their first NCAA baseball appearance, will enter with a 27-28 overall record. Conference USA winner Rice enters with a 41-19 record and are ranked 8th nationally.

ASU, winners of the SWAC tournament, were primed to play in the state of Mississippi. Southern Mississippi didn't get a Regional host birth, however, and are meeting rival Mississippi State in the Atlanta Regional Friday.

Junior pitcher Steve Easter of Chicago, the SWAC leader in wins with eight, says that it doesn't really matter where the Braves are sent:" I had no preference but there were several projected sites. I and we are just happy to be going anywhere."

Easter doesn't know if he will start Friday, but would be ready: "I hadn't really thought about it, but it would really be big to start. As long as I would keep my pitches down and the defense works for me we'd be okay." Easter knows nothing about the Owl lineup, but may by Friday: "I don't know anything about them, but I have faced a couple of their players before. They are always good and them winning their conference says it all. That's all I need to know about them."

The other teams in the Houston Regional are Baylor at 29-26 and California at
31-20. They meet at 3PM Friday.

Should ASU win Friday, they would play at 6PM Saturday. Should they lose they would play at 2PM Saturday.

Games will be broadcast back to Mississippi on WPRL 91.7 FM.

By Alcorn State Athletics
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Central Florida blanks South Carolina State, 17-0

ORLANDO, Fla. -- The phrase “moral victory” is not in South Carolina State head football coach Oliver “Buddy” Pough’s vocabulary. Not surprisingly, he refused to view Saturday’s 17-0 season-opening loss to Central Florida in such a manner. “We’re not in the moral victory business,” Pough said. “We’re a good enough team now where we’ve got to make some type of statement and we haven’t made it yet. The one thing we do know is that we can go in and play defense I think with pretty much anybody. We’ve just got to find a way to make our overall team come together.”

The Bulldogs stopped the Knights on three of five trips to the red zone as Markee Hamlin (#11) had eight tackles and one fumble recovery to lead the S.C. State defense.

Even though the Bulldogs’ third contest against a Football Championship Subdivision foe was less lopsided than last year’s two contests against Air Force Academy and the University of South Carolina, to a man, the outcome was seen as a missed opportunity. “Tough season opener,” Pough said. “When you come into stadiums like this you feel like you might have a chance to at least hang around. “When you do for a while, you feel really bad about not getting it done.”

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Attendance: Bright House Networks Stadium, Orlando, FL: 42,126 (Capacity: 45,301)