Alcorn State Braves baseball

The Alcorn State Braves baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of Alcorn State University in Lorman, Mississippi, United States. The program's first season was in 1959, and it has been a member of the NCAA Division I Southwestern Athletic Conference since the start of the 1963 season. Its home venue is the Foster Baseball Field at McGowan Stadium, located on Alcorn State's campus. Carlton Hardy has been the team's head coach since the 2025 season. The program has appeared in 1 NCAA Tournament. It has won one conference tournament championship and 0 regular season conference titles. As of the start of the 2021 Major League Baseball season, 1 former Brave has appeared in Major League Baseball.

Alcorn State Braves
2025 Alcorn State Braves baseball team
Founded	1959 (1959)
University	Alcorn State University
Athletic director	Derek Horne
Head coach	Carlton Hardy (1st season)
Conference	Southwestern Athletic Conference West Division
Location	Lorman, Mississippi
Home stadium	Foster Baseball Field at McGowan Stadium (Capacity: 500)
Nickname	Braves
Colors	Purple and gold[1]
NCAA Tournament appearances
2011
Conference tournament champions
2002, 2011
Regular season conference champions
2002

History

Early history

The program's first season of play was 1959.

Conference affiliations

• Southwestern Athletic Conference (1963–present)

NCAA Tournament

Alcorn State has participated in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament once.

Year	Region	Round	Opponent	Result
2011	Rice Regional	First Round Lower Round 1	Rice California	L 2–14 L 6–10

Foster Baseball Field at McGowan Stadium

Main article: Foster Baseball Field at McGowan Stadium

The stadium is named for Willie McGowan, head baseball coach from 1972 to 2009.^[2][3] In 38 years as Alcorn State's coach, McGowan won over 700 games.^[4] The field and stadium were officially dedicated on September 4, 2010. Plaques commemorating the dedications were added on May 6, 2011.^[2]

Head coaches

Alcorn State's longest tenured head coach was Willie E. "Rat" McGowan, who has coached the team from 1972 to 2009.

Year(s)	Coach	Seasons	W-L-T	Pct
1959	Louis Crews	1	7–7	.500
1960–1969	William H. Foster	8	82–84–1	.494
1971	Davey Whitney	1	14–8–1	.630
1972–2009	Willie E. "Rat" McGowan	38	720–663–7	.521
2010–2015	Barret Rey	6	115–218	.345
2016–2021	Bretton Richardson	6	66–166	.284
2022–2024	Reggie Williams	3	17–120	.124
2025–present	Carlton Hardy	1	0–0	–
Totals	7 coaches	64	1,021–1,266–9	.447

Notable former players

Below is a list of notable former Braves and the seasons in which they played for Alcorn State.

• Al Jones (1978–1981)
• Corey Wimberly (2002-2004)

See also

• List of NCAA Division I baseball programs

References

1. Alcorn State University Identity Standards and Editorial Stylebook (PDF). Retrieved December 30, 2023.
2. "Alcorn State University Holds Plaque Unveiling Ceremony in honor of the McGowan Stadium/Fisher Field on May 6". Alcorn.edu. Alcorn State University. Archived from the original on 2012-01-31. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
3. "House Bill 730". Mississippi State Legislature. Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
4. "Alcorn names baseball stadium after the living legend Coach Willie "Rat" McGowan". Alcorn.edu. Alcorn State University. Archived from the original on 2010-07-06. Retrieved 31 January 2012.

External links

• Official website