The Alabama State baseball team will make its second straight appearance in the Major League Baseball Urban Invitational beginning Friday, playing three games in the Houston Astros' Minute Maid Park.
The Hornets will face defending SWAC Champion Prairie View Friday at 6:30 p.m., Southern Saturday at 4 p.m., and Texas Southern Sunday at noon.
It's the sixth year of the annual event, created by Major League Baseball aimed to help bring national exposure to HBCUs and promote the idea of playing baseball in Division I programs to America's urban youth.
The Hornets' baseball program will make its first appearance on national TV in Saturday's game against Southern, which will be televised live on MLB Network and video streamed on MLB.com. (Internet radio is available for all Alabama State road games on bamastatesports.com).
“It's definitely an honor to be a part of the MLB Urban Invitational,” said Alabama State head coach
Mervyl Melendez, who has participated in all six events, the first four as head coach at Bethune-Cookman. “Whenever you're invited to an event like this and get the exposure we will receive, that will benefit our program greatly. We're looking forward to participating for the second year in a row.”
The Hornets are coming off their first loss of the season, a 15-4 defeat at South Alabama Wednesday night. ASU was hurt by five errors and six hit batsmen by pitchers in the game.
“I've always said you have to pitch well and you have to play good defense,” Melendez said. “It was abysmal last night and that's why we lost. We gave up a lot of runs because of our mistakes on the field and not throwing enough strikes. Usually when you don't do both well, you end up on the wrong side of the score.”
This weekend, Alabama State will face three Southwestern Athletic Conference teams from the Western Division which beat the Hornets last season. Prairie View beat Alabama State 14-4 in the opening game of the SWAC Tournament, while Texas Southern eliminated the Hornets one day later, 6-3. Southern defeated Alabama State 10-2 in the final day of last year's MLB Urban Invitational.
“These are teams we won't see in conference play,” Melendez said, as only conference office-scheduled games among divisional opponents count in the league standings. “We'll match up with them in the tournament in May, and they'll be totally different. The teams would have improved by then, and the players more confident in their systems. What does it mean for later on? Probably not a whole lot, but they are teams that you need to make to statement to right away so that they know what you have and you have that psychological edge when it comes down to the end of the season.”
RENDA NAMED NATIONAL PITCHER OF WEEK Sophomore pitcher T.J. Renda was named College Baseball Insider.com Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week for his no-hitter on opening night.
Renda walked one, hit one batter, and struck out 15 hitters in Alabama State's 14-0 victory over Chicago State.
-GO HORNETS-
-GO HORNETS-
