MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama State University baseball team saw its Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) record 26-game snapped on Saturday as the Hornets fell, 5-2, to Alabama A&M at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.
"It was a very similar game than yesterday through the first five innings," Alabama State head coach Jose` Vazquez said. "This time they just punched the runs across first. Their pitcher did a good job keeping us off balance. We missed a lot of pitches that we should've handled and you have to give him credit. We really went from one extreme to the other as far as having quality at-bats and having that inning to put them away. That inning never happened."
Coming into Saturday's game, the Hornets had won 26 straight regular season SWAC games dating back to the 2015 season. Also, the loss snaps a seven-game win streak against the Bulldogs dating back to the 2015 season.
Brandon Caples (0-3) started on the mound for the Hornets and took the loss in 6.0 innings. He surrendered three runs (one earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts.
Austin Bizzle worked three innings in relief with two strikeouts.
The Bulldogs (4-8 overall, 1-1 SWAC) scored two runs in the fifth inning, one in the sixth and two in the seventh to grab a 5-0 lead.
Alabama State (4-7, 1-1) rallied with a pair of runs in the bottom of the seventh to cut the deficit to 5-2.
Hunter Phillips reached on an error to begin the frame. He scored on a double down the left field line by
Hunter Allen. Allen came in to score when
Gustavo Rios reached on an error to trim the margin to 5-2. After a pitching change,
Eriq White, who finished with two hits, singled and both runners advanced on a wild pitch. However,
Edgardo Rivera bounced out to the shortstop and
Diandre Amion struck out. With two down,
Carlos Ocasio ended the threat as he grounded out to the shortstop.
After registered 15 hits in each of the last two games, the Hornets were kept at bay and finished with five on Saturday.
"I think we will be ready for tomorrow," Vazquez said. "We've got to better from the beginning. The energy today was low. We are trying to do too much at the plate. We had five hits and three errors. That's really not a game that indicates how good of a team we have. We just got to be better tomorrow."
Blaine Milam (2-1) kept the Hornets off balance for the 6.0 innings as he scattered four hits and gave up two unearned runs with two strikeouts. Brandon Marsonek earned his third save and fanned two in 3.0 innings.
Alabama State concludes its three-game series in the rubber game on Sunday against Alabama A&M in a SWAC game at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
For more information on Alabama State University baseball, follow us on Twitter @BamaStateBB and like us on Facebook.
