The Alabama State baseball team returns to action Wednesday, travelling to Atlanta to face Georgia State at 4 p.m. (CT) at the GSU Baseball Complex. Fans can listen live to the game free of charge and also follow the game with live stats on Hornets Baseball Gameday Central.
Alabama State (13-18 overall) has reached the halfway point in the season, and enters April coming off a month a winning month of March (11-9). The Hornets posted non-conference wins over Florida A&M, Gardner-Webb, Georgia State and Troy, and are in sole possession of second place in the SWAC's Eastern Division.
“I have seen the progress,” head coach
Mervyl Melendez said. “I see the guys understanding the system and how to play the game day in and day out. That's been the challenge to this team – learning at a quicker pace. We don't have a lot of time to devote to making mistakes, especially in games. We need to continue to learn, but I am happy with where we are right now.”
ASU has shown an ability to come from behind to win games this season. Of their 13 victories, the Hornets have rallied from deficits to win six times. In the first meeting this season against Georgia State on March 20, Alabama State rallied from 6-0 and 9-2 deficits to win 14-9 at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.
“The thing that I'm most proud of is the way we have battled back in games we have been down,” Melendez said. “That is a very good sign of a good team and that is going to help us down the stretch.”
The Hornets move into a unique part of the schedule in the final 23 games prior to the SWAC Tournament. Of those contests, 20 games will be the conclusion of a home-and-home series. In addition to playing its SWAC Eastern Division opponents for the second time, Alabama State will complete or play non-conference series against Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Mercer and Jacksonville State.
“It's actually going to be an adjustment period for both teams,” Melendez said. “When they see you for the first time, they don't know what to expect, and vice-versa. We need to make adjustments offensive, defensively and on the mound for us to succeed. Everyone knows what we have now; it's not a surprise to anyone. Regardless of what they may have known prior to playing us, they have a better understanding now of what we can do, and we know those things about our opponents as well. It's now about us making adjustments to be able to be competitive and win ballgames.”
WEEKEND SCHEDULE CHANGE: With Easter Sunday this weekend, the Alabama State – Alabama A&M series in Huntsville will now be played Friday and Saturday. The teams will play a single game Friday at 3 p.m. and a doubleheader Saturday beginning at Noon.
