JACKSON, Miss. – The Alabama State baseball team won its second straight Southwestern Athletic Conference Eastern Division title in winning the first game of Saturday's doubleheader at Jackson State.
The Hornets won 14-5 in game one before falling in the nightcap 9-5 at Braddy Field. Game three of the series is Sunday at 1 p.m. with a live radio broadcast on bamastatesports.com.
Game 1 – Hornets 14, Jackson State 5: Cesar Rivera and
Hunter Allen each hit two-run homers as
Joseph Camacho improved to 11-0 on the season.
Leading 1-0 in the first inning, Alabama State (29-15, 17-6) added two runs in the second.
Ray Hernandez was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by
Marcus Swint. Rivera then launched a 2-2 pitch over the right field wall for his seventh homer of the season to give the Hornets a 3-0 lead.
After Jackson State (29-19, 15-8) scored twice in the second, Alabama State scored four in the third.
Chris Biocic walked, and
Waldyvan Estrada was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. On a sacrifice bunt by P.J. Harris, a throwing error by the Tigers allowed by Biocic and Estrada to score. Allen then homered on the first pitch of the at-bat to left field to extend the Hornets' lead to 7-2.
J-State scored three in the third before Camacho took control. He allowed just three hits and no runs over the final 5 1/3 innings to remain undefeated. Rivera went 3-for-4 and was a double away from hitting for the cycle with three runs scored and three RBI.
Game 2 – Jackson State 9, Hornets 5: Yamil Pagan went 3-for5 with two runs scored and an RBI as ASU saw a four-game winning streak in Jackson come to an end.
Trailing 1-0 after one, Alabama State took the lead with two runs in the third. With two outs, Pagan singled to center,
Chris Biocic walked and Estrada walked to load the bases. Harris walked to score Pagan before a passed ball scored
Chris Biocic to put the Hornets ahead 2-1.
JSU regained the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third and added a run in the fourth to take a 5-2 lead. Rivera hit a solo home run in seventh, his team-leading eighth, to cut the Hornets' deficit to 5-3 before Jackson State scored four in the eighth to break the game open.
In the ninth, P.J. Biocic singled with two outs to extend his on-base streak to 40 games, before Pagan hit an RBI triple and
Chris Biocic an RBI double for the final margin.
