LORMAN &045; It could be the dawning of a new era of baseball in the Southwestern Athletic Conference: good pitching, good defense and a series where no team scores more than four runs.

A different day, indeed.

Alcorn came away in the rubber game of its three-game set with Mississippi Valley with a 2-1 win to take the series and move up in the East Division standings. More importantly, the Braves may have showed that the division is up for grabs this spring and they’re a much-improved team from a season ago.

And, if you’re keeping score at home, other things.

&uot;I told somebody the other day the SWAC is going through a renaissance,&uot; Valley head coach Doug Shanks said. &uot;The teams are better, and the pitching is getting better. I thought they played well, but the pitching was good on both sides (today). There’s no question Alcorn has improved tremendously. I tell you what &045; I think they’re better than Jackson State.&uot;

The Braves were just like the Delta Devils all weekend &045; very little production at the plate &045; but they took the rubber game like they did the opener Friday night. Pitching and defense played a big part, and the Braves handed Valley its first two losses in conference.

Alcorn (6-3, 10-6) got a gem in Game 3 from Jermaine Clarke to shut down the Delta Devils after Earl Smith opened the series with a win thanks to 11 strikeouts. The Braves didn’t commit an error behind Clarke.

&uot;We stepped up real big defensively,&uot; second baseman Corey Wimberly said. &uot;That was the key in the series &045; pitching and defense. That was the key, and we knew that coming in. We knew they were going to have good pitching. A lot of people look at us like the underdog in the conference, but they had us to finish third. We want to finish first.&uot;

Even if the Braves had just two hits in the final game, they manufactured the runs when they had to and scratched for a run in the sixth inning to get the win. Valley right-hander Scott Bingham didn’t give up his second hit until the sixth when Larry Pierce doubled to left center.

But that’s when the wheels came off a bit for the Delta Devils. Pierce went to third on an error at third that put Clarke on with one out, and Pierce scored when a Bingham pitch got by catcher Noah Trujillo for the 2-1 lead.

&uot;Our offense has been a little slow,&uot; Alcorn head coach Willie &uot;Rat&uot; McGowan said. &uot;We’re not hitting or getting the timely hits. But this whole series with Mississippi Valley &045; I thought we were going to beat them three, but we let that 4-2 (Game 2) ball game slip up on us.

&uot;But I’m proud of the kids. Our team is a little bit better than last year. We’ve got to stay focused when we’re in the batter’s box and get timely hits. It hurts me when we get runners on base and strike out.&uot;

That was enough for Clarke and the Braves in the top half of the seventh. The Delta Devils (7-2, 7-10) scratched for their run in the fourth before making noise in the top of the seventh off Clarke, who hadn’t started in over a week.

Joel Gould reached on a bunt single with two outs, and Clarke walked Rod Williams to put the winning run on base.

The Braves then summoned closer Matt Chatwin in relief, and the right-hander from Canada got Trujillo to fly out to left to end it.

&uot;I hope we’re just in a funk,&uot; said Shanks, whose club had just four hits and struck out six times. &uot;To Alcorn’s credit, they played good defense and made some good plays. When we got a man on, we missed a hit-and-run signal. It changes the whole complexion of the game.&uot;

Errors hurt the Delta Devils in the first inning when two helped Alcorn score the game’s first run. Wimberly led off by reaching on an error at second, went to second on Derrell Tidwell’s sacrifice bunt, stole third and scored on Pierce’s sacrifice fly to center.

Clarke stayed ahead in the count most of the game and walked just three. In the first Corey Littleton doubled and went to third but was left stranded when Clarke got McDonald to strike out.