MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Alabama State gave up seven runs in the first inning and fought from behind the entire night before falling to Mississippi State in the MAX Stingfest at Montgomery's Riverwalk Stadium.
Alabama State (17-15) fell behind early to Mississippi State as the Bulldogs jumped out to a 12-0 lead before the Hornets were able to respond in front of 1,502 fans Wednesday night. The Hornets had their chances early, leaving 15 runners on base during the contest.
The Hornets were able to get on the board in the seventh as they put four runs up against the Mississippi State (18-16) bullpen.
Ray Hernandez singled through the left side with two outs in the inning to get things going for Alabama State, before he was pushed to second on a
Gustavo Rios single and scored on a
Cage Cox double to left center for the first run of the game for Alabama State.
Rios and Cox would score on a
Hunter Allen single to left, before Allen scored on a fielding error by Mississippi State. The Bulldogs were able to close the door with three runs in the top half of the eighth inning for the final margin.
Allen finished the night 3-for-5 with a pair of runs batted, while
Chris Lewis finished 3-for-4. Cox and Rios each finished with a pair of hits each for the Hornets who finished the night with 14 hits.
Mississippi State had seven different players pick up multiple hits on night as they pounded out 23 hits off of three Alabama State pitchers.
Ivanniel Vazquez (1-4) suffered the loss as he worked the first 3.1 innings and allowed 10 runs (only five earned) off of 14 hits.
Chase Laney worked the middle 4.1 innings and allowed five runs off of nine hits, before
Terrell McCall finished the game with 1.1 innings of scoreless relief.
Alabama State returns to action Friday with the beginning of a three-game series at 6 pm at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex. The game will be carried on the Hornet Sports Network and admission to all home games on campus.
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