Alabama State completed a three-game sweep of Chicago State with a 14-2 win Sunday afternoon at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.
The Hornets (3-0) used a familiar combination in the rubber game of the series to produce victory – strong pitching and timely offense. Freshman
Hunter McIntosh earned his first career win, going four innings allowing three hits, one run, two walks and two strikeouts. Offensively, Alabama State had a season-high 18 hits in scoring 10 or more runs in three straight games for the first time since 2011.
“The pitching was pretty good again today,” head coach
Mervyl Melendez. “I give a lot of credit to Hunter. In his first outing, he wasn't locating a lot of his pitches, but he battled and he competed. That's what we want out of our guys. He gave us four strong innings. He got to his pitch count, so we took him out, but he set the tone by competing and giving it all he had.”
Every ASU player with at least two at bats had at least one hit or scored a run.
Manny Rodriguez went three-for-four with three runs scored and three RBI, and
Leo Rojas also had three hits with two runs scored as the Hornets have scored 39 runs in the first three games.
Alabama State broke the game open in the middle innings, scoring 10 times, nine of them in the fifth and sixth.
Dexter Price hit his first home run of the season to left field to lead off the fifth. Rodriguez continued his torrid pace at the plate with a two-run single to left field, and
Waldyvan Estrada had a two-run single to left field in the six-run inning.
In the sixth, Rodriguez had an RBI single up the middle, and
Raul Perez hit a two-run double to give the Hornets a 13-2 lead.
A total of six pitchers combined to limit the Cougars (0-3) to just five hits as Alabama State committed no errors for the second straight game.
“The offense came alive in the middle of the game,” Melendez said. “They made great, great adjustments. What I am most proud is that the entire weekend, we made two errors. That says a lot about all the work we put into getting the guys to understand that's an important part of the game. It gets overlooked a lot, because of hitting and pitching, but defensive is an area that we have concentrated on a lot and hopefully we continue to understand that.”
Alabama State has opened the season with three straight wins for the first time since 2011. The Hornets host Mercer Tuesday at 6 p.m. before playing at South Alabama Wednesday night to begin a four-game road trip.
“It's gratifying knowing we've won three games to start the season,” Melendez said. “However, we know it is a long season, and every game will bring different challenges. Now we have to be ready for those challenges. We have to be ready to make adjustments throughout the season.”
