Though the regular season’s end is impending, Florida A&M baseball still has much to play for.
When the Rattlers travel to the Alcorn State Braves this weekend, the series could end with FAMU being named the Southwestern Athletic Conference’s regular-season champions.
The Rattlers (27-23, 21-6 in SWAC) and the Braves (6-40, 1-26 in SWAC) three-game series runs from Thursday, May 15 until Saturday, May 17 at McGowan Stadium in Lorman, Mississippi.
FAMU is currently 2.5 games behind SWAC leaders Bethune-Cookman (31-20, 22-4 in SWAC), which hosts Texas Southern (21-28, 14-13 in SWAC) in Sanford from Thursday-Saturday to end the regular season. Texas Southern would have to beat Bethune-Cookman twice, while FAMU has to sweep Alcorn State to rise to the top spot in the SWAC standings.
The Rattlers swept Texas Southern in Houston last weekend. Furthermore, Bethune-Cookman swept FAMU during the Easter weekend series.
Texas Southern besting Bethune-Cookman in a three-game series could be a longshot, but FAMU head coach Jamey Shouppe has some hope, stating, “There’s a pretty good outside chance at first.”
With a tight window to move up, FAMU has clinched at least the No. 2 spot in the SWAC standings before the league’s eight-team, double-elimination tournament.
Being a top-two team is quite an accomplishment for the Rattlers, considering that the SWAC did away with the East and West divisions for baseball this year. So, FAMU faced the other 11 SWAC teams throughout the regular season.
“It’s more of an indicator of the job you did as a baseball team and as a coaching staff. To finish first or second in a 12-team conference, playing everybody, we know we’re either the first or second best team,” Shouppe told the Tallahassee Democrat.
“Our record has proven that throughout the course of it. So, that’s always something good to hang your hat on and feel good about.”
This FAMU baseball team could also etch itself in history.
A sweep over Alcorn State would make the Rattlers the third squad in program history to reach 30 regular-season wins. Not including postseason play, the 1981 and 2016 teams are the only FAMU baseball teams to accomplish the feat.
“I would love to see us win all three games,” Shouppe said. “We’ve done it, counting the tournament, but not going into it with 30 wins. I would take pride in that and credit this ballclub for accomplishing something that hasn’t been accomplished at FAMU in a while.”
FAMU baseball is warming up as SWAC Tournament nears
The saying goes that postseason baseball is about getting hot at the right time.
And the Rattlers are hitting their stride, with eight consecutive victories that span across series versus the defending SWAC champions, Grambling State, Alabama A&M, and Texas Southern.
FAMU could continue to assert its recent dominance in its SWAC Tournament warmup at Alcorn State, which has the worst record in the SWAC.
“Every year, you see in the tournament that it’s not always the best team that wins ― sometimes it’s the hottest,” said FAMU leftfielder Ben Kim. “We’re trying to get hot at the right time. It’s all about having that strong momentum going into the tournament.”
Shouppe plans on being strategic this weekend to get players rested before the SWAC Tournament.
But he’s not overthinking it.
Against Alcorn State, FAMU will prioritize preserving as many arms as possible for the SWAC playoff, which could see the Rattlers compete in Birmingham for up to five days straight.
“We have to make sure we have our pitchers fresh for the tournament because it could be a grind,” Shouppe explained. “So, we’ll limit some innings from our starting pitchers on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. That’s where the rest will come in to make sure you’re pitching healthy and fresh in the postseason.”
SWAC Baseball Standings
Florida A&M baseball at Alcorn State SWAC Baseball Series
All times are Eastern.
Gerald Thomas, III is a multi-time award-winning journalist for his coverage of the Florida A&M Rattlers at the Tallahassee Democrat.
Follow his award-winning coverage on RattlerNews.com and contact him via email at GDThomas@Tallahassee.com or on the app formerly known as Twitter @3peatgee.
This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU baseball is chasing milestones in its SWAC regular season finale at Alcorn State
Reporting by Gerald Thomas III, Tallahassee Democrat / Tallahassee Democrat
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
