Alabama State defeats at Auburn at Plainsmen Park
The Alabama State Hornets made the trip up to Auburn to take on the Tigers for a mid-week battle on the baseball diamond. While the Tigers did get out to the lead in the 4th inning when Gavin Miller came home off of a pass ball, the Hornets got the bats going in the 7th when Ali LaPread hit a solo homer to tie the game at one. Then, in the 8th Alabama State took the lead when Randy Flores also hit a solo homer to put the Hornets up 2-1. The Hornets would then put another run on the board in the top of the 9th to give them the two run lead headed into the bottom half of the final inning.
The Tigers tried to rally back in the bottom of the 9th when Cade Belyeu got on base with a triple, and then scored off of a sac fly from Chris Stanfield, they could not get that final run in to send it into extra innings and the Hornets prevailed 3-2.
“It felt like offensively we were getting to them (late), but too much length out of the starter, too much length out of the first reliever. I think it helped them get to the finish line,” head coach Butch Thompson said. “The bats were not competitive enough, for sure, but it was an accumulation of a lot of different things.”
The Tigers continue Southeastern Conference play with a three-game series against No. 8 Kentucky (27-4, 11-1 SEC) Thursday through Saturday at Plainsman Park. The Hornets return to action on Friday at home to kick off a three game series with Bethune-Cookman.
(Information from Auburn University)
