THIBODAUX, La. – The Alabama State baseball team earned its first win of the season, defeating host Nicholls State 6-4 in the Colonel Round Robin Tournament.
ASU dropped the nightcap to Stony Brook 6-0. Alabama State returns to action Tuesday and Wednesday at Auburn. Game time both days is 5 p.m.
GAME 1 - ASU 6, Nicholls 4: Richard Gonzalez, went 3-for-4 while
Leo Rojas and
Waldyvan Estrada each had two hits as the Hornets got the first win of the
Mervyl Melendez era.
The Hornets scored twice in the top of the first with a two-out rally. Estrada's single to center scored Rojas from first base who was running on the pitch to give ASU a 1-0 lead. Rojas, who took second on the throw home, then scored on Gonzalez' RBI single for a 2-0 Hornet lead.
After Nicholls (2-4) scored three in the bottom of the first, ASU regained the lead in the fifth.
Einar Muniz' two-out RBI single scored
Jordan Mims, who reached on an error. Rojas then followed with a single to right and Muniz scored from first when the ball got past the right fielder for an error as the Hornets took a 4-3 lead.
Alabama State extended its lead in the sixth, as Gonzalez tripled to center and scored on
Marcus Swint's sacrifice fly to give ASU a 5-3 lead.
Leading 5-4 in the ninth,
Emmanuel Marrero's RBI single scored Gonzalez who doubled to lead off the inning for the final margin.
“I thought we came out with a lot of fire,” head coach
Mervyl Melendez said. “Nicholls was able to answer with three in the bottom of the first. We came back, did a good job, regained the lead and never looked back. I was very happy with the approach at the plate.”
T.J. Renda (1-1) went the distance, allowing four runs on seven hits in throwing 132 pitches, 78 strikes. He settled down after the first inning, yielding just one run and four hits over the final eight innings.
“I thought he was leaving pitches up at the beginning of the ball game,” Melendez said of Renda. “I didn't think he was competing. I just wanted him to settle down and actually show a little bit more fire and throw his pitches with conviction. He was able to do that throughout the remainder of the game.”
GAME 2 - Stony Brook 6, ASU 0: In the nightcap, the Hornets managed only three hits against the Seawolves. A two-out ASU error in the eighth led to three unearned runs for Stony Brook (3-0) to break the game open.
“I thought the pitcher from Stony Brook (Evan Stecko) did an outstanding job of mixing up his pitches,” Melendez said. “He was throwing the breaking ball for a strike anytime in the count. That got us a little off balance. Also, we had a two-hour delay (between games) and in the 40-50 degree weather, that hurt us a little bit.”
