Claflin Face Tough Baseball Weekend

Orangeburg, S.C. - The Claflin University baseball team will face a tough weekend as they play four games in three days this weekend. The stretch starts with intra-state rival and fellow Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) member Benedict College. The two teams will square off in the HBCU Classic presented by Michelin at Fluor Field in Greenville on Friday (Apr. 15) at 7 p.m.

The game, which will be considered a non-conference game, will be the fourth meeting of the season with Benedict winning the conference three-game series last week 2-1, in Columbia.

"We're excited anytime to play Benedict," Claflin Head Coach James Randall said. "Our players always get motivated when playing Benedict. The classic will carry same type of emotion, if not more. This classic honors a man (Jackie Robinson) that changed the game of baseball on the professional level."

After the prestigious event, the Panthers head to Albany State for an important SIAC three-game series. The series carries a significant impact on the East Division race with Albany State sitting atop at 9-3 followed Claflin at 10-5 and Paine 9-5.

Claflin owns a 17-23overall record, while Albany State is 11-29.

Action gets underway Saturday with a doubleheader and concludes Sunday with a single contest.
This will be the second league series between Claflin and Albany State. The two met in Orangeburg last month with Albany State prevailing 2-1 in three games.

"This is an important series for both teams," Randall said. "This series definitely has first place implication in our division. We hope to avenge those two loses in Orangeburg.

"Our approach for the series is simple, one game at a time. We don't want to look ahead, meaning putting one game ahead of the other. Hopefully, we can continue to swing the bats like we did against Paine. We had a good offensive outing against Paine, especially the last two games. Our pitchers also did an outstanding job in those games."

In the matchup with Paine, the Panthers batted .392 for the series that included 38 hits and 30 runs.

Claflin boost six players hitting over the .300 mark. Reginald Rogers leads the way at .339. He is followed by Jesse Minter .337, Jabari Brown .331, Rashad Bivens .325, Christopher Gilliam, .312 and Lyndale Morley at .310 to round out the group. Brown also leads the team in hits with 45 and stolen bases with 28. Bivens is the leading offensive producer with 35 RBIs and five home runs.

Dillon Parker and Morley are tied on the team in pitching wins with four a piece.

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Players Mentioned

#9 Rashad Bivens: IF; 5' 11"; Junior; R/R

#3 Jabari Brown: IF; 5' 10"; Senior; R/R

#2 Jesse Minter: U; 5' 11"; Senior; S/R

#8 Reginald Rogers: IF; 6' 1"; Junior; R/R

#6 Lyndale Morley: P/OF; 6' 0"; Junior; L/L

#10 Dillon Parker: P/OF; 6' 0"; Freshman; L/L

#23 Christopher Gilliam: OF/P; 6' 5"; Junior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#9 Rashad Bivens
: 5' 11"; Junior; R/R
: IF

#3 Jabari Brown
: 5' 10"; Senior; R/R
: IF

#2 Jesse Minter
: 5' 11"; Senior; S/R
: U

#8 Reginald Rogers
: 6' 1"; Junior; R/R
: IF

#6 Lyndale Morley
: 6' 0"; Junior; L/L
: P/OF

#10 Dillon Parker
: 6' 0"; Freshman; L/L
: P/OF

#23 Christopher Gilliam
: 6' 5"; Junior; R/R
: OF/P