LORMAN &8212; Leave it to the new kids on the block to get an introduction to SWAC baseball.

Or, more accurately, SWAC pitchers are getting introduced to Alcorn&8217;s three new feared sluggers. In a conference where you don&8217;t really raise eyebrows unless you&8217;re hitting above the .400 mark, the Braves have three doing just that with another lurking at .348 on the season.

Meet Marcus Davis, Shawn Taylor and Bradley Hubbert. This is their first season playing baseball, and they&8217;re a big reason why Alcorn is sitting in first in the SWAC&8217;s Eastern Division and one of the top hitting teams in the conference.

The Braves open a three-game set at Centenary today with a doubleheader at noon.

&8220;We&8217;re depending on our offense a whole lot,&8221; Alcorn head coach Willie &8220;Rat&8221; McGowan said. &8220;We&8217;ve had to score a lot of runs to beat the teams we&8217;ve been playing. Our new kids, those three have been hitting the ball. We&8217;ve got about 10 kids right now and eight are probably hitting over .300. That&8217;s pretty good.&8221;

It&8217;s Davis that may have made the biggest impact so far for the Braves. Numbers-wise, the East Central Community College transfer is tearing up the pitching &8212; .456 average, seven homers, 28 RBI, .956 slugging and seven doubles.

Hubbert, a transfer out of Georgia State, is hitting .422 with five home runs and 26 RBI. Taylor, a Colorado native who transferred from Seward County (Kansas) Community College, is hitting .348 with seven doubles and 24 RBI.

The negative? Hubbert and Davis lead the team with 17 strikeouts. But McGowan will take the tradeoff, especially after Davis clobbered two homers Tuesday against Buffalo.

&8220;He strikes out sometimes, but sometimes when he doesn&8217;t strike out he hits home runs,&8221; McGowan said. &8220;We thought (Davis) could do that when we recruited him. We saw him play in junior college, and we knew that he was a tremendous player. We weren&8217;t surprised. With Shawn, he played junior college up there in Kansas with all that wind, and they use wooden bats. He had about nine or 10.&8221;

The three have formed a nucleus to a lineup that needed some extra pop after last season. It&8217;s allowed everyone else to play their roles, including gap hitter Caleb Betschart (.450) and senior Scott Spillars (.362).

The attitude has been contagious, said Spillars, now a regular in the lineup this season at either catcher or DH.

&8220;This year it seems like a lot of guys are putting in a lot more work outside of practice,&8221; Spillars said. &8220;We take our batting practice every day, but the whole team comes down in between classes. We have players get with the assistant coaches who set up drills for us to do. Those two (Davis and Hubbert) &8212; they pack a big punch in the middle of the lineup.&8221;

Spillars has been the quietest breakout story in the lineup after playing sparingly his first three years at Alcorn. He backed up Larry Pierce last season and had only 33 at-bats all season.

Asked if he considered transferring, Spillars said he didn&8217;t want to leave after the place that gave him an opportunity out of high school. Then Pierce didn&8217;t return this season, and Spillars has started all 17 games so far.

&8220;Being in the lineup every day helps,&8221; Spillars said. &8220;Last year it was hard because I wasn&8217;t in the lineup every day. With the guys around me, I&8217;m seeing a lot more fastballs. The pitcher has got to throw a strike. That&8217;s the key to our success &8212; we&8217;re keeping the majority of the same lineup almost every game. We&8217;ve got a feel for each other.&8221;

It&8217;s been pitching, McGowan said, that&8217;s been his biggest worry now that the team&8217;s defensive slump may be a thing of the past. The Braves finally got a solid outing last weekend from Earl Smith against Mississippi Valley as he went seven innings while striking out five and walking eight for his first win of the season.