The number two seed in the Eastern Division is on the line this weekend as the Alabama State baseball team travels to face Alcorn State in a three-game Southwestern Athletic Conference series.
 
Alabama State (19-30 overall, 13-8 SWAC) will face the Braves (15-31, 12-9) in a doubleheader Saturday beginning at noon and a single game Sunday starting at 1 p.m.  There will be an Alabama State audio broadcast of each game live free of charge at bamastatesports.com/showcase.
 
The Hornets are coming off a pair of close losses in mid-week games against Jacksonville State, losing 5-4 in 14 innings Tuesday and 8-6 Wednesday.
 
“We played very well against Jacksonville State and showed a lot of heart,” head coach Mervyl Melendez said of his team which not only battled deep into extra innings, but rallied the next night and nearly erased a six-run deficit in the bottom of the ninth inning. Our defense and pitching did very well and we swung the bats better than we had in the last few weeks.”
 
Alabama State won two of three games against Alcorn State when the teams met in Montgomery at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex March 31-April 1. The Hornets won game one 3-2, lost the middle game 7-4, and won the nightcap 11-7. The winner of the series will be the second seed in the East and will face the #3 seed from the Western Division in the opening round of the SWAC Tournament, scheduled for May 16-20 in Baton Rouge.
 
“We need to concentrate on us rather than the opponent,” Melendez said. “We need to play good baseball in order to achieve the goals we have set for our program.”
 

#HORNETS#