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Not Many Changes in HBCU Baseball's Top 10
Bethune Cookman, Alcorn State remain 1-2 in BCB's weekly poll

by Tony McClean, teemack@blackathlete.com • View all articles by Tony McClean
POSTED: Mar 21, 2008

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BlackCollegeBaseball.comNEW HAVEN, Ct.-- For the third straight week, Bethune Cookman is the No. 1 team in Black College Baseball.com's weekly Top 10 poll. The Wildcats (10-6) received 13 of 15 first-place votes with Alcorn State receiving the other two.
While BCC has won four of their last six games, the Braves (15-1) are one of the hottest teams in all of college baseball. ASU is currently on a 14-game winning streak, having swept NAIA opponent Jarvis Christian College last weekend. 
The Braves' only loss came against Texas Southern (3-2) in their second game of the season.  “I think our success can be attributed to the fact that we are playing games at home this year and having fans to attend the games", said ASU head coach Willie McGowan.  
"Last year we played all games on the road and that was hard on the team, but this year we have a new facility that we are using to our advantage.” The Braves will be tested this weekend as they visit SWAC rival Mississippi Valley in Itta Bena beginning Friday.
Rounding out the top five is Jackson State (10-8) at three, Grambling State (7-9) drops from third to fourth, and Norfolk State (7-6) remains at five. The Tigers, who jumped three spots from last week, have won three straight including a 25-10 thumping of Tougaloo.
JSU pounded out 28 hits and scored 10 runs in the victory as Jerome Tyes and Jerome Harvey combined for nine hits and nine RBIs. The Tigers will travel to Montgomery, Alabama this weekend to take on SWAC rival Alabama State.
The rest of the top ten includes Prairie View A&M (10-9) at number six, Savannah State (10-6) remains at seven, Southern (5-7) is eighth, North Carolina A&T (6-11) resides at nine, and Mississippi Valley State (6-7) is tenth.
Key match ups this weekend include Grambling State hosts Southern, North Carolina A&T travels to Norfolk State, and Savannah State travels to Huntsville, Alabama to battle Alabama A&M.
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Texas College’s Kurt Knight has been named BCB's Player of the Week while Norfolk State’s Leon Schabacker has been named Pitcher of the Week for their performances during the week of March 10-16.
Knight went on a hitting and run producing spree this week to assist Texas College in going 4-1 this week.  The junior from Pompano Beach, Florida went 10-23 at the plate and knocked in 12 RBIs during that span. 
Knight even muscled up with his first four homers of the season.
Norfolk State’s ace of aces appears to be Schabacker in the early goings of the season. Schabacker threw his third shutout of the year in his fourth start of the season against Longwood last Sunday. 
He did not walk a batter, scattered three hits, and tied his career high with 9 strikeouts in NSU's 6-0 win. He's currently 3-1 on the season with a 1.04 ERA.
BLACK COLLEGE BASEBALL.COM 
WEEKLY TOP 10 BASEBALL POLL
(Records through March 18)
School  Rec Pts LW
1. Bethune Cookman (13)   10-6   148   1
2. Alcorn State (2)    15-1   137   2
3. Jackson State               10-8   105   6
4. Grambling State    7-9     84   3
5. Norfolk State     7-6     81   5
6. Prairie View A&M  10-9     79   4
7. Savannah State  10-6     70   7
8. Southern    5-7     48   9
9. North Carolina A&T   6-11     27 10
10. Miss. Valley St.    6-7     21   8

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Tony McClean is the editor-in-chief for the Black Athlete Sports Network. You can hear him on BASN Radio every Saturday afternoon on "The Weekend Sports Rap" from 1-3 pm ET. He can be reached via e-mail at teemack@blackathlete.com.


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