Alabama State rallied to defeat Troy 4-3 Tuesday night at the Wheeler Watkins Baseball Complex.
Tied at 3-3 in the ninth,
Dexter Price led off with a walk. Brandon Castro then reached on an error, advancing pinch runner
Marcus Swint to second.
Dillon Cooper then reached on an error, allowing Swint to score with the winning run.
Alabama State (8-1) matched Troy's runs in the third with two of its own. The Hornets took advantage of three walks, a wild pitch, a hit batsman, and a fielder's choice to score two runs without the benefit of a hit.
Waldyvan Estrada's RBI walk scored
Einar Muniz, and Price's fielder's choice grounder scored
Richard Amion to tie the score at 2-2.
The Hornets pushed across a run in the sixth with two outs combining two hit batsman, one walk and one hit.
Richard Gonzalez was hit by pitch with the bases loaded to score
Manny Rodriguez to give Alabama State a 3-2 lead.
Troy (5-2) tied the game in the eighth on a two-out single by Josh McDorman, scoring pinch runner Clay Holcomb.
Alabama State was held to a season-low five hits but found a way to win the ball game and took advantage of five hits batsmen and five walks.
“I thought both pitchers did a very good job tonight,” head coach
Mervyl Melendez said. “This is the first time we didn't out hit or outplay our opponent and still found a way to win. It was a very close game that could have gone either way, but the willpower and energy our guys had willed us to the victory.”
Both pitching staffs held each team's potent offense in check.
Anthony Ricciardi went six strong innings, allowing four hits, two runs, three walks and six strikeouts. Four relievers combined to allow just two hits and one run over the final three innings.
“Once again, we pitched very well and gave ourselves a chance to win,” Melendez said. “Ricciardi did an excellent job and kept us in the ball game. He was very tough tonight. Against a good opponent, you have to pitch very well, and I thought the key to the game was our pitching. The bullpen came in and did the job as well.”
Richard Gonzalez extended his hitting streak to 12 games dating back to last season, and
Armando Ruiz (2-0) pitched the ninth and got the win in relief.
Alabama State returns to action Wednesday at 4 p.m. vs. Kennesaw State at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.
