MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Resuming play from a suspended matchup on Friday, Alabama A&M came up short in the first two games of the series on Saturday afternoon at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.

Trailing by five going into the ninth of game one, Myles Jackson drove in the team's sixth run on a groundout to the pitcher, making it a four-score game, before Jared Tribett drove home the final run with a sacrifice fly to center field as a strikeout ended the contest with the 10-7 score.

Alabama A&M (12-31, 3-21 SWAC) jumped out to an early lead on Friday, scoring the opening run after singles from Jalen Ford, Tommy Easley, and Blake Martin with one out in the first. They added to the lead in the third, as the same order came to bat, this time with Martin hitting a triple down the right field line to drive home Easley who walked earlier in the inning. Brycen Hammonds brought home Martin on the next at-bat, singling up the middle to give A&M a 3-0 lead before play was suspended in the top of the fourth due to weather.
 
After resuming play on Saturday, the Bulldogs added another run in the sixth, as CJ Mervilus started the inning with a double down the right field line, followed by Tribett being hit by a pitch. A&M pitchers allowed just two hits after five, before Alabama State (35-15, 22-3 SWAC) responded with a six-run inning to take the lead.
 
The Hornets got on board with a double to start the bottom of the sixth, followed by an RBI single to score their first run. With a single and the next batter hit by a pitch, Corey King cleared the bases with a double to right to drive in a trio of scores. King later scored on a double from Christian Lopez, while the last run crossed the plate on a wild pitch.
 
ASU gained a 7-4 lead in the seventh on an RBI single to right field and held the three-run lead until Easley drove in Chevalier Dorris with a single to make the score 7-5 heading into the bottom of the eighth. The Bulldogs allowed another three runs in the latter half of the frame off four hits with one more opportunity to bat.

Hammonds and Jalen Parker led off the ninth with a single and double respectively to put runners in scoring position before Jackson driving in a run on a groundout. Tribett brought home Parker with a sac fly before the strikeout to close the game.
 
Hammonds led the Bulldogs at the plate, going 3-for-5 in game one, driving in a run and scoring a run. Easley and Martin followed with two hits each, while Martin drove in two runs and scored another.
 
Tyler Campbell (1-4) took the loss for A&M, pitching five innings, surrendering seven hits and six runs with one strikeout. Evan Crenshaw worked for three innings, giving up six hits and allowing four earned runs, while striking out three of 14 batters he faced.

Alabama State got on the board first in game two, starting with a double to lead off the second. After a sacrifice fly to move the runner to third, King singled up the middle to drive home the first run of the contest.
 
The Bulldogs responded in the third as Kenny Glover led off with a double to right field and advanced to third on a bunt from Dorris. Chandler Stocking grounded out to short stop on the next at-bat to score Glover to tie the game at 1-1.
 
Both sides left a pair of runners on base during their next plate appearances, with A&M allowing two singles and drawing to walks on the offensive side in the top of the fourth. The Hornets took the lead again not long after, earning a pair of one-out singles and an RBI single in the bottom half of the inning to go up 2-1.
 
Trailing by two after ASU added another run in the fifth, Alabama A&M answered in the top of the sixth with a solo home run from Tribett with two outs. Despite cutting into the lead, the Hornets stretched it back out to two in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI single, making it a 4-2 game.
 
Alabama A&M cut the deficit to just one run again in the eighth, starting with singles from Hammonds and Easley. Martin bunted to advance both runners to second and third, before a sacrifice fly to center field from Parker for the 4-3 score.
 
Momentum swung for a final time with another two scores from the Hornets in the eighth on a sac fly and RBI single to go up 6-3, a score that remained until the final out.

Glover and Hammonds led the Bulldogs from the plate in game two with two hits each, while four other batters combined for the remaining six of eight total hits in the game.
 
Anthony Mateo earned the start and threw for 4.1 innings of work, allowing seven hits and three runs while facing 21 batters and striking out one. Dustin Hernandez, Terence Sales, and Dimitri Stamataplous came in out of the bullpen for the remaining 3.2 innings, allowing a combined six hits and three runs in the loss.

Alabama A&M returns to the Wheeler-Watkins Complex for series finale on Sunday to close out the road portion of the schedule. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.

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