ITTA BENA, Miss. (April 6, 2019) - Mississippi Valley State's baseball team suffered a pair of defeats in a doubleheader against Alabama State on Saturday at the MVSU Baseball Field. The Hornets won game one 5-4 and game two 12-2.
 
The Delta Devils (6-16, 5-9 SWAC) outhit the Hornets 10-9 led by senior Wendell Rieves two-hit performance including a double,  RBI and a scored run as MVSU fell in game one 5-4 to Alabama State. 
 
Freshman Willie Johnson also had a pair of hits against the Hornets joining Rieves. Freshman Kameron Spencer had his second double of the season and senior Marshall Parish had two RBI. Sophomore Nicholas Johnson struck out four batters pitching seven innings. Relief pitchers redshirt sophomore Brandon Hawkins and junior Aaron Barkley each went one inning both striking out one batter.
 
ALST led 4-0 after the third inning. In the sixth, senior Fredrick Spencer RBI singled through the right side scoring Leflore for the Delta Devils first run of the morning.  The Hornets came back with a home run in the next inning taking a 5-1 lead. 
 
It took a huge seventh inning for MVSU to find their hitting strides late. K. Spencer led off with a double to right center and then Johnson reached on a bunt to the catcher.  Rieves knocked in an RBI double to left-center scoring Spencer. Next, Parrish used a hard single up the middle to bring in both Rieves and Barkley for a 5-4 ball game.
 
The Hornets held MVSU to one hit the rest of the way, freshman Antonio Walker singling to right-center leading off the eighth inning.
 
GAME 2: ALST 12, MVSU 2
The Hornets had 14 hits with five home runs in the second game of the doubleheader. They scored five runs in the second inning, three in the third, one in the sixth and three in the seventh inning for a 12-2 victory.
 
Redshirt sophomore Billy Leflore scored the game's first run on a sacrifice fly out to left field scoring Johnson in the first inning.
 
Then in the fourth, Leflore led the inning off with a walk, stole both second and third bases and crossed home plate on a force play with an out on a steal attempt at second base.
 
ALST's Kelly pitched a complete game holding the Delta Devils to one hit while fanning seven batters.
 
MVSU's freshman Gerald Pintarich (1-5) went two innings, while Hawkins, freshman Joshua Lathem, and Parish all seen time on the mound. Johnson and Leflore each stole two bases and scored the only runs for the Delta Devils. 
 
The Delta Devils return to the field on Tuesday, April 9 hosting Delta State at 2 p.m. at home.