MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Alabama State hits the road for their final regular season series this weekend as they face Mississippi Valley State in Itta Bena (Miss.) beginning Friday afternoon.
Alabama State (24-20, 15-6 SWAC) enters the weekend off a non-conference series win over Florida A&M last weekend on the road – the second of three consecutive road series for the Hornets. The Hornets also enter the weekend having won four of their last five games last week, including a win over Jackson State and another over Jacksonville State.
Alabama State enters the weekend as one of the hottest teams in the league over the last 20 games. Despite splitting those 20 games on the field, Alabama State is hitting .338 as a team and has outscored their opponents 173-154 during that time. Alabama State has nine different players hitting .300 or better during that stretch, with one just below the mark at .286.
Gustavo Rios leads the team in hitting during the stretch, hitting .508 with 31 hits in 61 plate appearances. He also has seven extra base hits and has driven in 25.
Ray Hernandez is hitting .389 with five extra base hits, while
Hunter Allen is at .375 and
Hunter Phillips at .371 during the stretch.
Over those same 20 games,
Darrius Wright has led the Alabama State pitching staff with three of wins in five starts. He has registered a 4.70 earned run average during that stretch in 30.2 innings pitched. He has struck out 25 and walked 19. Meanwhile,
Ivanniel Vazquez logged a 4.84 earned run average with a pair of saves, while
Gage Dollar picked up three wins during the stretch.
For the season, Hernandez leads Alabama State in hitting at .360 through 42 games with eight doubles and eight home runs. He has also knocked in 36 runs, has a slugging percentage of .547 and has stolen a team-high 14 bases. Meanwhile, Rios is hitting .358 with seven doubles and four home runs this season for Alabama State.
Joseph Estrada is hitting .331 with 17 extra base hits, while Phillips (.327) and Allen (.307) are each over .300 for the season – along with
Noel Cheneau.
Alabama State will send
Darrius Wright (7-1, 2.49 ERA), the reigning Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Pitcher of the Week, to the mound Friday night. They will send
Dalton Wilder (2-3, 3.16 ERA) to the mound Saturday, and will make a decision on Sunday this week.
First pitch Friday is scheduled for 4 pm, with the entire series begin carried on the Hornet Sports Network.
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