MURRAY, Ky. - Alabama A&M (7-27, 4-14 SWAC) dropped an 8-2 decision at Murray State (22-18, 7-8 OVC) in an NCAA Division I baseball game on Tuesday, April 26.
Pitching would rule the first two innings before the Racers would register a run on the scoreboard in the bottom of the third inning as Bryson Bloomer flied out to right field and allowed Alex Crump to score for a 1-0 lead.
Neither team would affect the score until the Bulldogs responded in the top of the sixth inning as freshman left fielder
Janmikell Bastardo (Fort Myers, Fla.) singled through center field and brought home sophomore short stop
Chandler Stocking (Midway, Utah) to tie the game, 1-1.
The Racers would then answer with a barrage of runs in the bottom of the inning. Carson Garner tripled to left center and Riley Hawthorne and Brennan McCullough scored before Parker Estes singled to right center and allowed Garner to score. Estes would then score on a wild pitch before Bloomer flied out to right field and brought home Crump. The final run of the inning would come from Drew Vogel signaling through the left side and allowed Jake Slunder to come home and take a 7-1 advantage.
The score would remain that way until AAMU responded in the top of the eighth inning as freshman second baseman
Jalen Ford (Birmingham, Ala.) signaled up the middle and freshman center fielder
Devin Tonkins (Greensboro, N.C.) scored to close the gap to 7-2.
Murray State would answer in the bottom of the inning as Slunder scored on a throwing error and closed out the 8-2 decision.
Garner led the Racers with a 1-of-2 day, two RBIs and a run scored while Estes went 1-of-4 with an RBI and a run scored. Slunder went 3-for-3 with two runs scored while Crump was 1-of-2 with a pair of runs scored to round out the top offensive performers. Allen Roulette threw 1.2 innings, striking out three and allowed no earned runs to move to 1-3.
Bastardo led the Bulldogs with a 2-of-3 day and an RBI and Stocking and Tonkins both added a run each. Freshman pitcher
Brett Parker (Elkmont, Ala.) threw 1.1 innings, struck out one and allowed two earned runs to suffer the loss to fall to 0-1.
The Bulldogs will quickly return to action as they head to Jackson, Mississippi to take on Tougaloo tomorrow, Wednesday, April 27. First pitch is scheduled for 4 p.m.
