MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Alabama State battled back from an early six-run deficit before falling to Jackson State 8-7 in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opener Friday night at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.

Jackson State (4-5, 1-0 SWAC) jumped on top of the Hornets with a run in each the first and second innings, before scoring four in the third to take a 6-0 lead. Alabama State was able to trim the lead in the fourth after Chris Lewis was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and pulled to within 6-2 when Dilan Espinal drew a bases loaded walk.

The Tigers added another run in the fourth and another in the sixth before Alabama State (1-6, 0-1 SWAC) pushed four across in the sixth. The Hornets loaded the bases before Santiago Garcia cleared them with a double down the left field line to trim the lead 8-5, before Chris Lewis singled to left to score Garcia to trim the lead to 8-6.

Alabama State got one more in the eighth on a Cristopher DeGuzman RBI single and had a chance in the ninth when two runners reached with one out in the inning before Jackson State was able to get out of the jam to win the first game of the series.

Lewis, AJ Gardner, and DeGuzman each picked up a pair of hits for Alabama State, meanwhile Ricardo Rivera (0-3) suffered the loss as he worked 2.2 innings in the start and gave up six runs (five earned) on six hits. Jacknell Guzman came in to work 4.1 innings of relief and allowed a pair of runs, while Payton Harris pitched the final two innings of scoreless relief.

The two teams will play game two of the series Saturday night with first pitch scheduled for 6 pm at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex. Only those listed on the player pass list will be admitted into the venue due to socially distant seating. Alabama State is a mask mandatory campus, as are each of the athletic venues.

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