NEW ORLEANS, La. | Alabama State used a complete game effort from senior right hander, and Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Pitcher of the Year,
Darren Kelly to move past Prairie View A&M and into the winner's bracket with an 11-4 victory at Wesley Barrow Stadium Wednesday afternoon.
Kelly (6-2) finished the day with eight strikeouts, while scattering six hits and four runs (all earned) in the complete game effort – his second of the season. He also threw a season-high 120 pitches for the Hornets, and faced five or more batters in an inning just one time – a two-run seventh inning for Prairie View A&M (17-34).
Meanwhile,
Santiago Garcia and
Cameron Hearn led the attack at the plate for Alabama State (26-24) as the Hornets pounded out 10 hits and had another 11 reach in a variety of ways – walks, hit by pitch and fielding errors. Garcia finished the day 1-for-4 with three RBI, while Hearn led Alabama State with a 3-for-5 day including a pair of runs scored.
Chris Lewis and
Cristopher DeGuzman each added a pair of runs batted in for the Hornets.
The Hornets jumped on the board early with four runs in the first inning to take the early lead, with the first three batters reaching base before an RBI single by Garcia have the Hornets a 1-0 lead. A sacrifice fly by
Angel Jimenez pushed the lead to 2-0, before a two-run single by DeGuzman extended the lead to 4-0. The Hornets pushed the lead to 5-0 on a sacrifice fly by
Chris Lewis in the third before Prairie View A&M got on the board.
The Panthers used a solo home run by Dalton Horner in the fourth and a sacrifice fly by Daniel Lingua in the fifth to trim the lead to 5-2; before Alabama State answered with six more runs over three innings beginning in the sixth.
Alabama State moves into the winner's bracket to face Grambling State Thursday afternoon at 3 pm in a matchup of a game earlier this season in which the Tigers won in New Orleans. It is also a rematch of the winner's bracket game played at Wesley Barrow last season that was won by Grambling State.
First pitch is scheduled for 3 pm Thursday.
Follow the Hornets
For complete coverage of Alabama State University baseball, 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.
