Alcorn State head baseball coach Willie “Rat” McGowan was hoping the Braves would play better than they did in a 13-2 loss to the Lipscomb Bison Friday night. And a win to top it off wouldn’t have been bad, either.

McGowan was probably also hoping that Lipscomb sophomore Caleb Joseph would not light up Alcorn’s pitching like he did Friday night when hit three home runs and drove in seven runs.

In what turned out to be a doubleheader Saturday afternoon at Chester Willis Field, the Bison rallied late to defeat Alcorn State 3-1 in the first game while the Braves took the second game 4-3.

In the first game, Marcus Davis broke up pitcher Rex Brothers’ attempt at a no-hitter with a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth inning that tied the game at 1-1. But the Bison won the game by scoring two runs in the top of the seventh inning.

“We were leading both of those ball games, but we lost the first one,” McGowan said. “Caleb (Betschart) hit a home run in the bottom of the seventh to win the second game.”

Betschart’s walk-off home run was the first of the season for the junior right fielder. The leadoff batter in the bottom of the seventh, Betschart belted the second pitch over the fence in right field.

Betschart went 2-for-4 while Davis came up big with a one-out, two-run double in the bottom of the fifth inning that tied the game at 3-3. That came after Lipscomb scored three runs in the top of the fourth thanks to a couple of walks, a double by Branden Cavadid and a single by Ben Williams.

For those who were going to Chester Willis Field to watch the game thinking it started at 7 p.m., they ended up seeing an empty field, empty bleachers and no lights on. That’s because the game was moved up to 1 p.m. and the two teams ended up playing two-seven inning games.

“The high school, Trinity or somebody, was scheduled to have a game in the afternoon and it was cancelled.” McGowan said. “I asked their coach (Jeff Forehand) if they wanted to play at 1. We played two so they could get back (to Nashville, Tenn.).”