Claflin Travels to Clark Atlanta for Baseball Double Header

Atlanta, Ga. – The Black College Nines HBCU third-ranked Claflin University Panthers will face their fifth Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC) baseball opponent this season in Clark Atlanta University.

The double header gets underway on Saturday (April 13) at 1 p.m. at Bill Evans Field in Atlanta.

Claflin is 8-2 against teams from the SIAC this season with series wins over Mile College (2-1), Tuskegee University (2-1) and Morehouse College (3-0) and a win over Benedict College. After the three-game set with Clark Atlanta, which is 9-20 on the season, Claflin will wrap up competition within the SIAC, taking on Benedict twice, April 17 in Columbia and April 22 in Orangeburg.

The Panthers routed Benedict 18-8 in the first meeting this past Wednesday (Apr. 10) for their sixth straight win behind the outstanding performance of Eric McElveen, who drove in five runs with a perfect 4-for-4 performance at the plate. The win ran Claflin season record to 20-10.

During the Panthers winning streak, the offense has scored 69 runs (11.5 average per game), batted .351 (61-for-174) with includes seven home runs and 17 doubles. Overall, Claflin is hitting .314 with 248 hits and 20 home runs.

The leader of the pack is first basemen McElveen, who's hitting .422 with 43 hits (team-high), four home runs and 31 RBIs followed by outfielder Craig Hopkins at .385 at the plate, five homers (team-leader) and 31 RBIs.

Catcher Clyde Parker is the team's top run producer with 34 RBIs to go with a .385 batting average, Gerardic Dobbs is hitting .379 and 28 RBIs.

The Panther pitching staff is led by the trio of Cleveland Westbrook, Dillon Parker and Makai Holloway, who has accounted for 13 of the Claflin's 20 wins.

Westbrook has collected the most victories on the mound at 5-2 (3.98 ERA) in 10 appearances that includes 58 strikes out in 54.1 innings, while Dillon Parker has posted a 4-1 record (4.65 ERA) in nine starts and fanned 38 batters in 50.1 innings. Holloway, also 4-1 and has the team's lowest ERA at 1.86 with 26 strike outs in 29 innings of work.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Makai Holloway: P; 5' 10"; Sophomore; L/L

#20 Craig Hopkins: OF; 5' 10"; Senior; L/L

#13 Eric McElveen: 1B; 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R

#26 Clyde Parker: C; 6' 3"; Senior; R/R

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

#16 Cleveland Westbrook: P; 5' 9"; Senior; R/R

#15 Gerardric Dobbs: INF; 6' 0"; Junior; R/R

Players Mentioned

#12 Makai Holloway
: 5' 10"; Sophomore; L/L
: P

#20 Craig Hopkins
: 5' 10"; Senior; L/L
: OF

#13 Eric McElveen
: 6' 0"; Sophomore; R/R
: 1B

#26 Clyde Parker
: 6' 3"; Senior; R/R
: C

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

#16 Cleveland Westbrook
: 5' 9"; Senior; R/R
: P

#15 Gerardric Dobbs
: 6' 0"; Junior; R/R
: INF