MONTGOMERY, Ala. | A late-inning rally fell short for Alabama State as they dropped an 8-5 non-conference contest to Florida A&M at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex Tuesday night.

Hunter May (2-for-3) and Cristopher DeGuzman (2-for-4) led Alabama State at the plate on the night, each picking up multiple hits. Although they were the only players with multiple hits for the Hornets, all nine players in the lineup picked up a hit in the loss.

Ricardo Rivera (3-2) suffered the loss, working 5.0 innings and allowing six runs (all earned) on six hits. He walked four and struck out four, as he was one of three pitchers used on the night by Alabama State. Alexander Castro came in to work 2.2 innings in middle relief, allowing one run off of four hits with five strikeouts, while Nate Gerard worked the final 1.1 innings and allowed one run off of two hits.

Four Florida A&M players picked up multiple hits on the night as they helped Josh Wilson (2-3) pick up the win as he worked 6.0 innings and allowed just one run off of four hits with a pair of strikeouts. Jeremiah McCollum, the fourth pitcher of the night used by Florida A&M, came on to work the ninth for his eighth save of the season.

Florida A&M (13-22) jumped ahead early with a four-run third inning to take a 4-0 lead, using five hits and taking advantage of an Alabama State error on a sacrifice bunt to take the lead. Alabama State answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning when Hunter May blasted his third home run of the season out to left, trimming the lead to 4-1.

The Rattlers pushed the lead to 7-1 in the sixth with three more runs, using four hits to push the lead to the largest of the night. Alabama State (16-14) used a four-run seventh inning to trim the lead to 7-5. They used a lead-off single from Cristopher DeGuzman and a single through the left side by Yamil Pagan to get the first two runners on with nobody out in the inning. Eriq White followed that with an infield single to third to load the bases, before Noel Cheneau beat out an infield single to third to drive in a run and trim the deficit to 7-2.

Santiago Garcia cleared the bases following the Cheneau single, trimming the deficit to 7-5, before Florida A&M was able to get out of the inning. The Hornets had another chance in the eighth as they loaded the bases before an inning-ending double play, and Florida A&M was able to add another run in the top of the ninth for the final margin.

Alabama State returns to action Wednesday night on the road against Troy, with first pitch scheduled for 6 pm at Riddle-Pace Field. The game will be carried on the Hornet Sports Network, beginning with pregame at 5:45 pm. 

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