The Alabama State baseball team will look to build momentum for the upcoming Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament as the Hornets end the regular season at Mississippi Valley State.
Alabama State (27-23 overall, 15-6 SWAC) and the Delta Devils (5-38, 1-16) will play a three-game series this weekend in Greenville, Miss. at Legion Field. Weather has adjusted the start time for Saturday's games, now scheduled to start at 4 p.m., with conditions dictating if the teams will play the doubleheader tomorrow or Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live online at bamastatesports.com/showcase.
The Hornets have lost their past five games, including last weekend's three-game series at defending national champion Arizona, as well as this past Wednesday at Jacksonville State. ASU played well in the first two games against Arizona, outhitting the Wildcats in game one, and holding a two-run lead late in game two before losing in extra innings.
“In the first two games in Arizona, the offensive performance was good,” head coach
Mervyl Melendez said. “We didn't finish any games (in losing 8-2 and 4-3), and didn't get the production in terms of RBI, but we had a lot of good at-bats. Unfortunately that didn't translate into runs, but was happy with our approach. Sunday, it didn't matter who pitched for us (in an 18-3 loss). We got hit, and hit hard and it was too big of a deficit for us to come back from.”
In the mid-week game at Jacksonville State, the Hornets trailed 3-0 after the first inning in a 9-2 defeat to the gamecocks.
“Wednesday was a case of the guys not really concentrating,” Melendez said. “For some reason, we didn't show up. We weren't there physically or mentally. That was upsetting for me; that's not what we intended, but we have to move on. Fortunately, we have another series to get us ready for the upcoming tournament.”
In the earlier series meeting this season, Alabama State won all three games in Montgomery at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex. The Hornets need one win, or a loss by Alcorn State in one of its remaining games to clinch the #2 seed in the Eastern Division behind Jackson State. The SWAC Tournament is set for May 15-19 in Fort Worth, Texas.
“This is all about the momentum we will carry in, even though the tournament is still a week and a half away after this weekend series,” Melendez said. “We have to do it for ourselves. These are our final games prior to the tournament, and there are still things we are working on and getting better at. We need these games to continue to get better and to see how we can improve on the things we haven't been doing well.”
