Andre Dawson Classic Archives - All Mississippi Baseball

travelin’ band

Jackson State is in the spotlight this weekend, heading out on the road again to play in another black college showcase event, the Andre Dawson Classic at Vero Beach, Fla. The Tigers, coming off a 2-1 finish in the Cactus Jack HBCU Classic in Houston, meet Southern University today, Prairie View A&M on Saturday and Alabama State on Sunday, all at Jackie Robinson Training Complex. Seven SWAC schools are in the field along with Missouri, coached by Kerrick Jackson, who became last year the first African-American head coach in SEC baseball. The Tigers had seven players named to the Cactus Jack All-Tournament team, including Pierre Cabral, a junior from the Dominican Republic who batted .556 with five RBIs, and Nkosi Didder, a native of Aruba who posted a 0.00 ERA with six strikeouts in four innings. Coach Omar Johnson’s roster also includes players from Curacao, Ecuador, Canada and Puerto Rico. The lineup features SWAC preseason player of the year Jordan McCladdie, from good ol’ Augusta, Ga. Off to a 3-for-14 start, he is no doubt eager to get back in the box in Florida. A good sign for the Tigers: Nine pitchers worked in Houston and registered a collective 3.54 ERA. Baseball America has pegged the Tigers as an NCAA Tournament team. They haven’t made the field since 2014, suffering a lot of heartbreak in the SWAC Tournament over the years. … JSU’s home opener is set for Wednesday vs. Lane College at Braddy Field, then the Tigers will bounce over to Jackson’s Smith-Wills Stadium to play rival Alcorn State in a non-conference series next weekend.

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Jackson State’s baseball team will get some prime exposure on MLB Network next month. The Tigers are playing in the annual Andre Dawson Classic, a showcase event for HBCU programs, and will face SWAC rival Southern University on MLB Network on Feb. 19 (1 p.m.). The Andre Dawson Classic runs Feb. 18-20 in New Orleans and features seven HBCUs in its eight-team field. JSU is playing in the event for the first time. The Tigers open on Feb. 18 against Grambling State and will play Prairie View on Feb. 20. JSU went 24-0 in the SWAC and 34-9 overall in 2021 but lost in the ninth inning of the league tournament title game and missed out on an NCAA bid. JSU returns Nik Galatas and Chenar Brown, picked by Collegiate Baseball Magazine as the preseason pitcher and player of the year in the SWAC. P.S. The start of the college season is less than two weeks away. On Feb. 2, NAIA member Rust College visits Tuskegee for a doubleheader. William Carey University, another NAIA program, opens at home in Hattiesburg on Feb. 4 against Lindsey Wilson. NAIA Tougaloo College starts Feb. 5 with a twinbill at Xavier in New Orleans. … Defending MACCC champion Pearl River Community College starts its season on Feb. 9 at home against Baton Rouge CC. PRCC is one of four state jucos ranked in Collegiate Baseball’s Division II Top 20. East Central (the NJCAA Region 23 Tournament runner-up) is No. 6, Pearl River No. 9, Meridian No. 14 and Itawamba No. 17. Jones College has a new coach for 2022 with Wes Thigpen moving to Ellisville after a stint at Gulf Coast. The Bobcats open on Feb. 7 at Shelton State (Ala.). Bob Keller is the new coach at Gulf Coast, which opens Feb. 5 in a tournament at Bay Minette, Ala.