BIRMINGHAM, Ala.| Alabama State came up short in the first of four road games to conclude the regular season, falling to UAB 12-9 at Young Memorial Field Wednesday night.
Darrius Wright, who got the start, finished with 3.2 innings pitched and allowed five runs (four earned) on just three hits. He walked three and struck out two.
Manny Bezares (0-2) suffered the loss, working 3.1 innings and allowing five runs on five hits, with a pair of strikeouts.
Alexander Castro came on to work 0.1 innings and allowed a pair of runs on two hits, before
Terrell McCall came on to record the final two outs.
Jorge Rivera, playing for the first time since North Alabama (April 16), led the Hornets at the plate as he went 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored. He reached base four times, drawing a walk in the seventh inning. Meanwhile,
Yamil Pagan (2-for-3) and
Chris Lewis (2-for-4) finished the night with multiple hits for Alabama State in the loss.
Noel Cheneau also finished with a pair of hits, finishing the night 2-for-4 as he finished with a pair or runs batted in and Lewis finished with three.
Angel Jimenez (2-for-4) picked up his second hit of the night in the ninth to drive in
Cameron Hearn after a triple.
UAB (20-25) jumped on the board first in the bottom half of the first inning after Alabama State stranded a pair in the top of the inning, using a pair of hits and a pair of free passes for the 3-0 lead.
Alabama State (25-22) got on the board in the top half of the second inning after
Angel Jimenez led off the inning with a double to right, and was pushed to third on a
Jorge Rivera two-out single in the inning. He would eventually score on a wild pitch with Pagan at the plate to trim the deficit to 3-1. UAB added another run in the bottom of the inning to push the lead to 4-1.
The Hornets came right back in the top half of the fourth inning to tie things up 4-all, using a pair of RBI hits in the process.
Trevor Jurjevich picked a one-out walk, and moved to third on a Rivera double to left before Pagan loaded the bases after taking a ball off the hip.
Chris Lewis got Alabama State to within a run with a two-run single up the middle, before
Noel Cheneau had an RBI single to left to tie the contest.
UAB came right back in the bottom half of the inning after Jess Davis stole second, third and home to give the Blazers a 5-4 lead. However, Alabama State had a rally of their own in the top of the sixth as they worked a bases loaded walk for the third time in two games, when Cheneau walk to bring home Rivera to tie the game at 5-all before a double play ended the inning.
The Blazers were able to the lead back in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly, 6-5, before Zack Davis hit a two-run solo home run in the inning to push the lead to 7-5. The Blazers were able to extend the lead to 10-5 in the inning to pull away from Alabama State. UAB added two more in the eighth before Alabama State put four on the board in top of the ninth inning for the final margin.
Alabama State had their chances, including loading the bases in the seventh inning but were unable to push a run across. The Hornets ended the night with 11 runners left on base in the loss.
Alabama State closes out the regular season this weekend in a non-conference series on the road at USC-Upstate beginning Friday night at 5 pm. The Hornets will look to complete the season sweep of weekend series, with all three games carried on the Hornet Sports Network.
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