BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | East Division No. 1 seed Alabama State scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to come from behind and remain undefeated in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) tournament with an 8-7 victory over East Division No. 3 seed Bethune-Cookman on Friday afternoon.
Alabama State (32-23) and Bethune-Cookman (27-29) traded the lead several times in the game before the Wildcats took a 7-6 lead in the seventh inning. Alabama State trailed by that same deficit in the bottom of the eighth under
Christian Lopez (San Diego, Calif.) reached on a double off the left field wall and scored on a triple to center by
Ian Matos (Toa Alta, PR) to tie the game at 7-all.
Corey King (Lithonia, Ga.) gave the Hornets the lead at 8-7 on a sacrifice fly to score Matos off all-conference reliever Brenton Fisher.
Matos led Alabama State at the plate, finishing 3-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI, while King finished 2-for-4 with three RBI in the win.
Trenton Jamison (Atlanta, Ga.) finished 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI, while Lopez finished 2-for-4.
Luis Rodriguez (Canovanas, PR) picked up the win out of the bullpen working the eighth and allowing just a pair of hits, while
Shadai Colon (Rio Grande, PR) picked up his fourth save working the ninth and allowing just one baserunner via a walk with a pair of strikeouts.
How It Happened
- B2 | Dilan Espinal (Canovanas, PR) hit a rocket to short that got through the infield to drive in Chris Lewis (Alabaster, Ala.) from third after a one-out triple off the centerfield wall. The senior second baseman then scored when Christian Lopez (San Diego, Calif.) singled up the middle (2-0, Alabama State).
- T3 | Malik Stephens tied things up with a two-run home run to straight away center (2-2).
- B3 | The Hornets answered back with a two-out double by Hunter May (Slidell, La.) to score Trenton Jamison (Atlanta, Ga.) from first base (3-2, Alabama State).
- B4 | Corey King (Lithonia, Ga.) snapped out his tournament slump with a single to center to score Jabronski Williams (Troy, Ala.) from second before Jamison drove in Ian Matos (Toa Alta, PR) from third (5-2, Alabama State).
- T5 | Christopher Patterson singled up the middle to drive in a pair of runs before Brian Perez tied things up with a single to center (5-5).
- B6 | King singled down the left field line to score Ian Matos (Toa Alta, PR) to give the Hornets the lead (6-5, Alabama State).
- T7 | Jeremy Garcia tied the game up with a bases-loaded single to left center by Jan Reyes recorded an RBI groundout to give the Wildcats the lead (7-6, Bethune-Cookman).
- B8 | Matos tripled to center to score Lopez before a sacrifice fly from King scored Matos for the go-ahead run (8-7, Alabama State).
Up Next
Alabama State remains in the winners bracket and will face the winner of the Bethune-Cookman and Grambling State (late Friday) contest on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 12 pm at Regions Field.
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