DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. | In a battle for first place in the SWAC, Alabama State University baseball dropped a doubleheader to first-place Bethune-Cookman University by the scores of 4-3 and 8-5 on Saturday.
GAME 1 | Bethune-Cookman 4, Alabama State 3
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. | For the second straight time in the series, Alabama State University baseball was walked off by Bethune-Cookman University, 4-3 in a 10-innings in game one of doublehader on Saturday.
Freshman Trey Power (2-3) came out of the bullpen for Alabama State (23-25, 15-8) and took the loss. The southpaw went four innings, giving up one run on three hits, allowing three walks and striking out one.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hornets put runs on the scoreboard first, starting the scoring in the second inning. Senior Kyler McIntosh came across to score the lone run of the inning for Alabama State and get them on the board.
The Hornets lost the lead they built in the second, but got back on the board in the sixth trailing 2-1. Alabama State brought home a pair, with one run driven in by junior Kameron Douglas' single, which brought the Hornets lead to 3-2. The Hornets were unable to hold the lead, as Bethune-Cookman scored two times over the remaining four innings to grab the 4-3 win.
GAME NOTES
» Alabama State's highest scoring inning was the sixth, when it pushed two runs across.
» Alabama State left 14 runners stranded on base in the loss.
» Alabama State pitchers faced 43 Bethune-Cookman hitters in the game, allowing 10 ground balls and nine fly balls while striking out seven.
» The Hornets drew eight walks from Bethune-Cookman pitching.
» Douglas led the Hornets at the plate, going 1-for-3 with an RBI.
» Bethune-Cookman was led offensively by junior Armani Newton, who went 1-for-4 with a home run and an RBI.
» Senior Yoansell Diaz led the Wildcats pitching staff, throwing three scoreless innings.
GAME 2 | Bethune-Cookman 8, Alabama State 5
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. | Wilbert Espinal belted two home runs, but Alabama State University baseball fell to the Bethune-Cookman University 8-5 in game two ofa. doubleheader on Saturday.
Senior Will Smith (2-1) came out of the bullpen for Alabama State (23-26, 15-9) and took the loss. Senior Will Larson was a bright spot for the Hornets, coming out of the bullpen as well and throwing one scoreless inning, allowing no hits, with no walks and one strikeout.
Espinal went 3-for-4 at the plate, supplementing his two home runs with two RBIs. Junior Kameron Douglas added to Espinal's awesome power-hitting performance by going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and three RBI. Senior DeMarckus Smiley also helped out for the Hornets, going 2-for-4.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Hornets got on the board immediately, starting their scoring with one run in the top of the first inning. Douglas put Alabama State on the board with a two-out solo home run off senior Marcos Gamboa.
The Wildcats failed to push any runs across before the Hornets offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. Alabama State picked up a run on Espinal's one-out solo home run off of Gamboa, which brought the score to 2-0 in favor of the Hornets.
Alabama State's lead had disappeared once the sixth inning came around and turned into a 5-2 Bethune-Cookman advantage, when the Hornets cut that deficit to 5-4. The Hornets drove two runs across on a two-run double off the bat of Douglas that brought home junior Kelvin Agosto and sophomore Juan Cruz.
The Wildcats expanded their lead to 8-4 before the Alabama State offense got back in gear, digging into that lead in the ninth. The Hornets recorded a run on Espinal's one-out solo home run off junior Jean Carlos, tightening the Bethune-Cookman lead to 8-5. The ballgame ended with that ninth inning rally falling short.
GAME NOTES
» Alabama State got a two-homer day from Espinal.
» The Hornets got three-hit games from both Douglas and Espinal.
» Alabama State got multiple extra-base hits from both Espinal and Douglas.
» Alabama State's highest scoring inning was the sixth, when it pushed two runs across.
» The Hornets took Bethune-Cookman pitchers deep three times on Saturday.
» Alabama State pitchers faced 36 Bethune-Cookman hitters in the game, allowing eight ground balls and seven fly balls while striking out seven.
» Espinal led the Hornets at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and two RBI.
» Bethune-Cookman was led offensively by junior Jesus Vanegas, who went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and two RBI.
» Sophomore Carlos Jazmin led the Wildcats pitching staff, throwing 1.2 scoreless innings.
Alabama State travels to Jacksonville State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. at Rudy Abbott Field-Jim Case Stadium in Jacksonville, Ala.
