Estrada's Grand Slam Lifts ASU Hornets Over Southern

HOUSTON. Texas – Waldyvan Estrada's grand slam highlighted a five-run fifth inning as Alabama State beat Southern 6-4 Saturday in the Major League Baseball Urban Invitational at Minute Maid Park.

Trailing 3-0 in the fifth with one out, a Manny Rodriguez single was sandwiched around walks to Dillon Cooper and Einar Muniz to load the bases. Richard Amion grounded out to third, scoring Cooper with the first run. Following a walk to Richard Gonzalez to load the bases, Estrada hit a 1-1 pitch out to left field off of reliever John Thigpen to put the Hornets ahead as Alabama State improves to 6-1 for the first time since 2009.

“I thought it was a fastball down the middle,” head coach Mervyl Melendez said. “He put a good swing together. We have shown the ability to hit the long ball a little more than the past (five this year through seven games after hitting 14 all of 2012). A lot of credit goes to our head strength and conditioning coach Karl Jordan for working tirelessly with our guys, and you see the difference with our guys and the way they are swing the bats and the power they are creating.”

Joseph Camacho (2-0) pitched into the seventh, allowing six hits, four runs with one walk and three strikeouts.

“He got out of trouble consistently,” Melendez said. “I didn't think he had great stuff tonight, but he bore down in big situations. I wanted to get five innings out of him. I got six, so I got one bonus inning from him. He did a good job.”

In the sixth, Cooper hit his first home run of the season to complete the Alabama State scoring, once again in the late innings. The Hornets are finishing games strong, outscoring opponents 43-15 from the fifth inning on this season.

“Our guys have to be resilient, and sometimes it doesn't happen at the beginning of the game,” Melendez said. “In the first inning, we left a runner on second base with no one out, and he didn't score. In the second inning, we had a runner on third base and we punch out (strike out) twice. So, we did a better job as the game went on. I was proud of the guys for sticking with it and doing a good job later in the ball game when it counts.”

Alabama State will go for the weekend sweep of the MLB Invitational Sunday at noon against Texas Southern before coming home to face Troy Tuesday at 6 p.m. and Kennesaw State Wednesday at 4 p.m.

“We have to take it one inning at a time,” Melendez said. “We have to take everything in stride. Although we want to win, and we came here to win and have every intention of that, we're learning how to play the game. We've got to take it one pitch at a time, one inning at a time, and if we play well, I like our chances.”

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COURTESY ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION