MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Kameron Douglas collected four RBI to help lead the Alabama State baseball team past the Florida A&M University 12-5 on Sunday at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.
Esaid Pena (1-3) got the win for Alabama State (10-15, ). The right-hander went five innings, giving up four runs, three earned, on seven hits, allowing no walks and striking out seven. Senior Will Smith also pitched well, going two shutout innings while allowing one hit, walking none and striking out three.
Douglas went 3-for-4 with a double and a walk in addition to his four RBIs for the Hornets. Senior DeMarckus Smiley put together a standout performance as well, going 1-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Junior Wilbert Espinal also helped out for Alabama State, putting together two hits in three trips to the plate while adding a double, a walk and an RBI.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hornets got the scoring started early, putting two runs on the board in the bottom the first inning with the game still scoreless. Alabama State plated two runs when Smiley left the yard with Douglas aboard.
The Rattlers failed to push any runs across before the Hornets offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. The Alabama State offense exploded for four runs, highlighted by a two-run single off the bat of Douglas, which brought the Hornets lead to 6-0.
Florida A&M narrowed Alabama State's lead to 6-5 before the Hornets stretched the advantage to 9-5 in the sixth inning. The Hornets added three runs in the frame, two of them coming across on a two-run single off the bat of Douglas.
Alabama State held the Rattlers scoreless before expanding their lead in the eighth inning. The three-run frame for the Hornets was punctuated by a two-run single off the bat of freshman Fabian Santana. bringing the score to 12-5 in favor of Alabama State. The score remained 12-5 for the rest of the game.
GAME NOTES
» Alabama State got three-hit games from Isaiah Landry and Douglas.
» Pena struck out a season-high seven batters.
» The Alabama State pitching staff combined to strike out 12 Florida A&M hitters.
» Alabama State's highest scoring inning was the second, when it pushed four runs across.
» Alabama State took a 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the first and didn't surrender that lead for the remainder of the game.
» Four Hornets had multiple hits in the ballgame including Alex Espaillat and Wilber Espinal with two apiece.
» The Hornets out-hit the Rattlers at a 14-11.
» Alabama State went 9-for-17 (.529) with runners in scoring position.
» The Hornets got three hits in four at-bats with the bases loaded.
» Alabama State pitchers limited Florida A&M to just 2-for-10 (.200) with runners in scoring position.
» Douglas led the Hornets at the plate, going 3-for-4 with a double and four RBI.
» Florida A&M was led offensively by freshman Broedy Poppell, who went 1-for-5 with a home run and two RBI.
Alabama State hits the road for four games starting at Georgia State on Tuesday at.5 p.m. CT in Atlanta, Ga.
