LORMAN, Miss. | Nearly 24 hours after throwing the first pitch in the series opener, Alabama State was down to their last strike twice in the ninth inning before they delivered and defeated Alcorn State 6-5 in 11 innings in Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) play Saturday night at McGowan Stadium.
Alabama State (15-13, 9-4 SWAC) trailed 5-2 heading into the top of the ninth inning before
Gustavo Rios led off the inning with a double down the right field line. He was lifted for pinch runner
Joshua Dunson who came around to score on a
Hunter Allen double to trim the deficit to 5-3.
That's when Alabama State had to battle to stay in the game.
Yamil Pagan grounded a ball to short that was mishandled by Brentley Martina, and allowed the senior to reach and pushed Allen to third with two outs.
Hunter Phillips came on in a pinch hitting role and was down to his last strike before he drove a ball through the right side that scored Allen and Pagan all the way from first to tie the game at 5-all.
Alcorn State had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the 10th innings with the bases loaded and one out, but
Terrell McCall (1-2) was able to work his way out of jam with a strikeout and a groundout to send the game to the 11th inning. In the top half of the 11th inning,
Cage Cox reached on a leadoff walk before going to second when Allen got down a sacrifice bunt with two strikes. The sophomore would advance to third on a walk pitch, and then score on another to give Alabama State a 6-5 lead.
McCall struck out the side looking in the bottom half of the frame to finish off the comeback victory. The junior finished off the game, working three innings of scoreless relief, replacing
Chase Laney who started the day in the sixth and worked three innings and allowed three runs off of six hits.
The game was halted at 8:10 pm Friday night, and in real time went just over 24 hours as the two teams spent nearly four hours on the field.
Alcorn State scored first in the bottom half of the first inning (on Friday) on a sacrifice fly by Hunter Wilson, before Alabama State answered with a run in the top of the second inning on a sacrifice fly by
Yamil Pagan.
The Hornets took a 2-1 lead in the top half of the third inning after
Joseph Estrada and
Noel Cheneau reached base to lead off the inning. Cheneau would later score on a balk to give the Hornets the lead. Alcorn State tied the contest up in the bottom of the fourth inning on an RBI single by Brendly Martina.
The score stayed the way until the storms rolled in during the bottom half of the sixth inning. Before the delay, Alabama State starter
Dalton Wilder had retired 10 consecutive batters until the Braves tied the game up in the fourth.
Alabama State and Alcorn State will play a doubleheader beginning at 11 am Sunday morning, with both games being carried on the Hornet Sports Network.
Follow the Hornets
For complete coverage of Alabama State University baseball, please follow the Hornets on social media @BamaStateBB (Twitter), /BamaStateSports (Facebook) and @BamaStateSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Alabama State athletics at BamaStateSports.com.
