MONTGOMERY, Ala. | Alabama State University dropped the second game of its Southwestern Athletic Conference series to Bethune-Cookman University, falling 7-3 to the Wildcats Saturday evening at Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.
Bethune-Cookman struck first in the second inning when Jose Fernandez connected on a solo home run to center field for a 1-0 advantage. Alabama State answered in the bottom half of the inning as Trey Callaway blasted a solo homer to left-center to even the score at 1-1.
The Wildcats regained the lead in the third inning on an RBI double by Darryl Lee, but the Hornets responded again in the fourth. Niguel Jenkins opened the inning with a solo home run to left field to tie the contest at 2-2 before Alabama State took a 3-2 lead later in the frame when Trey Callaway scored on a Bethune-Cookman fielding error.
Bethune-Cookman answered with a decisive three-run fifth inning. Andrey Martinez delivered an RBI single to tie the game before Michael Rodriguez followed with a run-scoring single to put the Wildcats ahead 4-3. Maikol Lucena added an RBI ground out later in the inning to extend the lead to 5-3.
The Wildcats added two insurance runs in the ninth inning, scoring once on a wild pitch and again on Lucena's RBI double to seal the 7-3 victory.
Harbersting Abreu earned the win for Bethune-Cookman, improving to 5-3 after allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits with four strikeouts in five innings. Jean Zambrano collected his second save after tossing four scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
Jorhan LaBoy suffered the loss for Alabama State and fell to 7-5 on the season. The right-hander allowed five runs on nine hits over 4.2 innings. Camden Matthews worked 3.2 innings in relief, allowing two runs while striking out two.
Jenkins and Callaway each homered for Alabama State, while Breydon Divine recorded two doubles. Bethune-Cookman finished with 14 hits, led by Sergio Rivera's three-hit performance and two hits apiece from Darryl Lee, Michael Rodriguez and Maikol Lucena.
With the loss, Alabama State moved to 26-21 overall and 16-10 in SWAC play, while Bethune-Cookman improved to 35-16 overall and 21-5 in conference action.
The teams conclude the three-game series Sunday 1 p.m.
