The Alabama State baseball team completed a three-game Southwestern Athletic Conference series sweep of Alcorn State, winning 12-2 Sunday at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.
The Hornets (15-4 overall, 7-0 SWAC) won for the 11
th time in their last 12 games heading into Tuesday's 6 p.m. home game vs. Troy.
"We are very fortunate to play good baseball this early in the season," head coach
Mervyl Melendez said of his team's start both overall and holding serve in sweeping the first two SWAC series of the season. "We must continue to play the type of baseball we've played to stay on top. I'm very proud to get off to a good start in conference play, but this is only the beginning of the schedule. We must continue to do so."
T.J. Renda (2-2) won his second straight game, posting back-to-back 10+ strikeout games for the first time in his career. He allowed six hits and two runs over seven innings, walking none and striking out 10.
"I thought T.J. did a very good job on the mound," Melendez said. "He was on point with location, and he commanded his off-speed pitches for strikes. I'm very happy with his performance. We were able to score early and put the pressure on them a little bit. I liked the way we played baseball today."
Alabama State scored two or more runs in five innings, including the second-fifth innings to take command. The Hornets never trailed in the game, scoring four times in the second.
Emmanuel Marrero, who went 3-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, led off with a triple to center field, and scored on two-base error for the first run of the game. With two outs and
Branden Castro on third,
Einar Muniz walked ahead of
Richard Amion's single through the left side, scoring Castro.
Richard Gonzalez then reached base on an infield single, as Muniz scored on the play from second base.
Cesar Rivera walked, and on a double steal, Amion stole home for a 4-0 lead.
Alabama State scored in the third on a sacrifice fly from Amion, scoring
Dillon Cooper.
Dexter Price, who walked in the inning, scored on a fielders' choice to extend the Hornet lead to 6-0.
Marrero had his second hit of the game in the fourth, scoring Rivera, who later scored on an RBI groundout for an 8-0 Hornets' lead.
After Alcorn State (1-13, 1-5) scored in the fifth, Alabama State scored in the home half of the inning. Rivera's two-out, two-run single to right field scored Muniz and Amion to give the Hornets an 10-1 lead.
The Hornets won it in the eighth with a two-out rally. Pinch-hitter
Marcus Swint reached on an error, and scored on a double to left center by Price. Pinch hitter
Kevin Olmeda's single to center scored Price for the final margin.
"We have to play our type of baseball," Melendez said. "We want to be aggressive and put pressure on the defense, but not neglecting that, we have to play smart. We have to be aggressive, but we also have to be controlled, and we did a good job of that."
