First place is on the line in the Southwestern Athletic Conference Eastern Division as the Alabama State baseball team plays at Jackson State in a three-game weekend series.
Saturday's doubleheader and Sunday's single game begin at 1 p.m. Live internet radio will be available at bamastatesports.com/showcase.
Alabama State (18-8 overall, 9-1 SWAC) is coming off a pair of losses Wednesday at Troy, one the completion of a halted game from March 11 in Montgomery. In each game, the Hornets committed an uncharacteristic three errors. In Wednesday's full game 8-5 loss, all three Alabama State errors occurred in the seventh inning, leading to four Trojans runs.
"We made a lot of mistakes in that inning, and it started with two walks and a wild pitch," head coach
Mervyl Melendez said. "We had a ground ball on the infield that we couldn't handle and didn't get the runner out at home. It was one thing after another, and then we were down four runs. In games, sometimes it's one bad inning that can lead to defeat. We just have to rebound and play better this weekend."
The Hornets will complete the first half of conference play at the defending champion Tigers (17-6, 5-1), who have won nine games in a row to be in virtual first-place tie in the East with Alabama State.
"Jackson State is a tough team that is very resilient," Melendez said. "They have good pitching (leading the SWAC with a 3.16 ERA), and they hit when they need to. You have to have production with runners in scoring position, and they seem to be doing that this year."
Since Melendez became head coach of Alabama State prior to the 2012 season, the rivalry with Jackson State has gone to a new level. The Tigers won all six games that year, while Alabama State won four of six games last season, including winning two of three games both at home and on the road. All of the contests, whether in Montgomery at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex or in Jackson at Braddy Field have been highly intense, emotionally-charged, competitive games. Despite it all, Melendez said it's still about playing the game.
"What we have to understand is we are still playing against the game," Melendez said. "We still have to record 27 outs, there's still three outs in an inning, and the winner is still the team that scores the most runs. The game doesn't change. What changes from game-to-game is the opponent. Still, your game has to be the same. We need to concentrate on what we do, what we have been doing well, and do the things we haven't done well better. We need to focus on what our game plan is rather than what our opponent brings, and I think we'll be in pretty good shape if we do so."
