Alabama State Hornets fall in extra innings to Florida A&M

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Alabama State battled from behind early to take a late lead, before Florida A&M came back with two big innings to come away with a 13-10 non-conference victory over the Hornets at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex Tuesday night.

Alabama State (9-7), who has dropped their last three games, fell behind early only to take a 10-8 lead into the ninth inning. However, Florida A&M was able to get to Chase Laney and Terrell McCall out of the bullpen when they opened the inning with Octavian Moyer reaching second on a two base throwing error by Cristopher DeGuzman, followed by a bunt by Brett Maxwell to put runners at the corners with no outs. The next batter, Ty Russ was able to get the squeeze down to trim the deficit to 10-9. They were able to take the lead with Jordan Curtis singling home Maxwell to tie the game.

Curtis was stranded at third to end the inning as McCall induced a ground ball out, then struck Daniel Oliver out to end the inning.

After Alabama State went down in order in the bottom of the ninth, Florida A&M was able to add three more to the board to push the lead to 13-10 with three hits and a two-base throwing error by Joshua Dunson that allowed a pair of runners to score.

The Hornets had their chance in the bottom of the frame when Santiago Garcia drew a leadoff walk. After Gustavo Rios popped out, Chris Lewis drew a walk to put runners at first and second with one out. Following a strikeout, Dunson was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs; however, Josh Barr was able to strike out Ricky Perez for the final out and his first save of the season.

Hunter Phillips and Garcia led the Hornets with three hits each, with Phillips finishing 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored and a pair of walks; while Garcia finished 3-for-5 with three runs batted in. Yamil Pagan finished with a pair of singles.

BOX SCORE

Alabama State fell behind early in the game, 5-0, as Florida A&M scored four runs in the top of the fourth inning off starter Channing Walker (0-1) in his first collegiate start. Walker lasted 3.2 innings, allowing five runs off of four hits and recorded three strikeouts.

The Hornets answered in the bottom half of the fourth with six runs of their own as they sent 10 batters to the plate and collected three hits, using a pair of Florida A&M (9-12) errors. In that inning, Alabama State got RBIs from Garcia and Dunson to take the lead. They would add three more in the sixth on a pair of hits and another Florida A&M error.

McCall (0-1) suffered the loss out of the bullpen, working two innings and allowing three runs – two earned – on four hits and recorded two strikeouts; while Laney went two innings out of the bullpen and allowed two runs (none earned) on two hits.

Alabama State will send Ivanniel Vazquez (0-2, 3.14 ERA) to the mound against Samford tomorrow night at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex. First pitch is scheduled for 6 pm, and the game can be heard on the Hornet Sports Network.

Follow the Hornets
For complete coverage of Alabama State University baseball, please follow the Hornets on social media @BamaStateBB (Twitter), /BamaStateSports (Facebook) and @BamaStateSports (Instagram) or visit the official home of Alabama State athletics at BamaStateSports.com.

ALABAMA STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA COMMUNICATIONS