ready or not

Alcorn State will get some national exposure today when the Braves play Grambling State in the MLB Urban Invitational to be televised live by MLB Network starting at 2 p.m. The Braves lost their opener in the four-team event 5-0 to New Orleans on Friday at UNO’s Maestri Field. Alcorn is 1-4; the one win, against Savannah State, was coach Barret Rey’s 100th in his six seasons in Lorman. The Braves won the SWAC Tournament and went to an NCAA regional in 2011 but have scuffled of late. They finished 11-42 last season. They managed just three hits and committed three errors in the loss to UNO. Maybe they’ll rise to the occasion of playing on national TV. One player to watch: Collin Carroll, a junior transfer from Ridgeland via Southwest Mississippi Community College who is batting .400 with a homer and three RBIs. He is the lone Alcorn batter hitting over .250. P.S. The Urban Invitational is a Major League Baseball initiative aimed at growing the game among inner-city youth and providing exposure for historically black colleges.