EMERSON, Ga. – The Alabama State University baseball team couldn't recover from an eight-run fifth inning as the Hornets fell to Army, 13-6, on Tuesday night at the Lakepoint Sports Complex.
 
"It was an awful game by us today," Alabama State head coach Jose` Vazquez said. "We didn't play the way we are capable of playing. We have a lot of things to work on and we need to come out tomorrow ready to play."
 
Burke Echelmeier (2-2) worked 4.0 innings and surrendered five runs on eight hits with two strikeouts and three walks. Brandon Caples, Chase Laney and Darren Kelly pitched in relief.
 
Army (5-10) struck with one run in the bottom of the third and one in the fourth to grab a 2-0 lead.
 
Alabama State (7-10) answered in the top of half of the fifth as the Hornets capitalized on one Black Knight error and scored four runs on three hits to take a 4-2 advantage.
 
Chris Biocic walked and Ray Hernandez, who went 2-for-5, doubled down the line in right with no outs in the frame. Gustavo Rios brought both runners home on a base hit to center and advanced to second and third with a two-base error by the center  fielder. Joseph Estrada followed and belted a towering two-run homer to plate Rios and give the Hornets a 4-2 lead.
 
Army quickly answered and exploded for eight runs on nine hits and took advantage of two errors to grab a 10-4 lead.
 
The Hornets cut the deficit to 10-5 with a run in the sixth as Biocic reached on a two-base error by the third baseman and Hernandez singled through the right side. Estrada plated Biocic on a sacrifice fly to right as ASU slowly chipped away at the margin.
 
However, back came the Black Knights with a run in the bottom of the frame to extend the lead to 11-5.
 
A Hunter Phillips solo home run in the seventh trimmed the deficit to 11-6, but that was as close as the Hornets would get.
 
Jeremy Mortensen started for the Black Knights and went 3.0 innings. He struck out three and walked one. Jacob Carte (1-1) earned the victory as he worked 3.2 innings and gave up six runs (five earned) on six hits with four strikeouts and three walks. Daniel Burggraaf also pitched in relief.
 
Alabama State concludes its two-game series with Army on Wednesday at Lakepoint Sporting Complex. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. (central).
 
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