MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Darren Kelly returned to the win column in his longest outing following season-ending arm surgery last season in a 7-1 victory over Purdue-Fort Wayne at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex Saturday night.
Kelly (1-0) threw four innings of hitless baseball in the start, walking just two and striking out six before giving way to three others out of the bullpen. The win was the first since his season-ending arm injury against Alabama A&M last March.
Offensively, Alabama State pounded out 12 hits with three players picking up multiple hits in the win.
Cristopher DeGuzman led the way for Alabama State, finishing 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, while
Cameron Hearn and
Noel Cheneau each picked up a pair of hits each for Alabama State (4-1).
Vital Statistics
WP –
Darren Kelly (1-0); 4.0 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
LP – Cameron Boyd (0-1); 5.0 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
2B - Garrett Mohler (2); Alec Brunson (2). HR - Andrew Lawvere (3);
Santiago Garcia (2). HBP –
Cameron Hearn;
Chris Lewis. SF –
Yamil Pagan (2). SB –
Cameron Hearn;
Noel Cheneau (4). CS –
Noel Cheneau (1).
How it Happened
After a scoreless first inning,
Santiago Garcia started the scoring for Alabama State in the bottom of the second with his second home run – a solo shot to left for the 1-0 lead. The lead was pushed to 2-0 when
Trevor Jurjevich singled to left center to score
Chris Lewis, before
Hunter May scored on a sacrifice fly by
Yamil Pagan for a 3-0 lead.
The Hornets pushed the lead to 4-0 in the third when
Noel Cheneau singled to right center to score
Cameron Hearn, who drew a bases loaded walk in the fourth inning for the 5-0 lead.
Purdue Fort Wayne got on the board in the sixth on a solo home run from Andrew Lawvere – his second of the series – to trim the lead to 4-1.
Alabama State a pair of runs in the eighth on an
Eriq White single to score
Cristopher DeGuzman, and an RBI single from Hearn to score Pagan for the final margin.
Noteworthy
Darren Kelly picked up his first win since last February after suffering a season-ending arm injury, in a pre-determined start – striking out six in the win.
Alabama State used four pitchers, with
Nate Gerard getting the bulk of the work out of the bullpen with three innings of work in which he allowed just two hits and struck out a pair.
Gage Dollar and
Terrell McCall were also used out of the pen.
Offensively, Alabama State pounded out 12 hits, with three players picking up multiple hits.
What's Next
Alabama State and Purdue Fort Wayne return to action at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex Sunday afternoon, with first pitch scheduled for 1 pm in the series finale.
Tickets are available for $5 at the gate, and season tickets remain on sale through March 11.
Follow the Hornets
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