MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alcorn State University baseball program could not solve Alabama State starting pitcher Gage Dollar as the Hornets (8-4, 3-0 SWAC) swept the conference series with a 12-0 seven-inning final Sunday afternoon at the Wheeler-Watkins Baseball Complex.
The Braves (4-8, 0-3) did not record as
Kyle Jenkins and
William Thomas both drew walks. Dollar retired six Alcorn batters in the complete-game effort. Defensively,
Justin Barna had four putouts with an assist and
Devin Walden finished with four putouts.
Alcorn used four pitchers in the game. Starter
Bukhari Brown was chased out after giving up four earned runs on a hit and six walks in 2.0 innings of work.
Regynold Johnson also threw 2.0 innings and gave up seven runs, five of them earned, on five hits and a walk with one punch out.
Joe Smith and
Razedrick Winters also made appearances, tossing 1.0 inning apiece.
ASU broke open the scoring with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first. The hosts loaded the bases with one away and drew a full-count walk to plate their first run. The next Hornet batter then hit a sacrifice fly to center field as Alabama State took an early 2-0 lead.
In the third, the first two ASU batters walked and were hit by a pitch to force Alcorn to bring in Johnson. After a fly out put runners on the corners, a single through the left side brought in another Hornet run. ASU then got a double down the left-field line to make it 5-0.
The Braves had an opportunity in the fifth as
Nicholas Hayes-Saltare reached on a throwing error, allowing him to move up to second. The senior out of Hollywood, Fla. Then got to third as
Brandon Barna grounded out to second, but Dollar retired the next two Alcorn batters to escape the inning.
Alabama State then pulled away with six more in the bottom half of the frame and added one run in the sixth for the final tally.
Alcorn plays its home-opener on Wednesday as the Braves host Tougaloo College for a 6 p.m. game at Willie E. "Rat" McGowan Stadium.
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