The Alabama State baseball team blew a five-run lead in the final two innings in losing to Alcorn State 9-7 Sunday at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.
The Hornets (19-15 overall, 10-5 SWAC) led 7-2 after seven innings, but Alcorn State (8-26, 8-6) rallied a three-run eighth and four-run ninth to take the lead for good.
Alabama State loaded the bases with one out in the ninth, but could not get a run-scoring play in losing to the series to the Braves.
“We gave up seven runs in the last two innings,” head coach
Mervyl Melendez said. “Quite honestly, if you can't hold a five-run lead going into the eighth, you don't deserve to win the ball game. We're kind of stagnant on offense. We've hit a point where we're not taking good at-bats, and the approach is not what it needs to be. Usually on a Sunday, you can take advantage of a thin bullpen, but we didn't do that early enough to take advantage of the situation. It's unfortunate it happened, but something we have to learn from.”
Alabama State scored twice in the first to take the lead.
Richard Amion reached on an error, and advanced to third on
Leo Rojas' single down the left field line, but Rojas was thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double.
Richard Gonzalez walked before Amion scored on a wild pitch for a 1-0 lead. With two out,
Branden Castro doubled down the left field line to score Gonzalez for a 2-0 lead.
After Alcorn State scored twice in the fifth to tie the game, the Hornets scored five in the home fifth to regain the lead. With one out, Amion again reached on a throwing error. Rojas singled to right center field, scoring Amion to put Alabama State ahead 3-2. Gonzalez was hit by a pitch, and both he and Rojas advanced to second and third, respectively, on a balk.
Waldyvan Estrada then singled to center field, scoring Rojas for a 4-2 lead. Castro then homered to left field on a 2-1 pitch to give the Hornets a 7-2 lead. It was the first career homer for Castro, who went 2-for-5 and tied a career high with four RBI.
The Hornets begin a five-game road trip with mid-week games Tuesday at Mercer at 5 p.m. and Wednesday at Auburn at 6 p.m. Both games can be heard live on-line at bamastatesports.com/showcase.
