April 6, 2008

Montgomery, Ala. - Furquan Shamsud-Din's first inning grand slam led Alabama State to an 8-6 win and split of a baseball doubleheader versus Mississippi Valley State. The Hornets lost the first game of the day 4-1.

Mississippi Valley State 4, Alabama State 1

ASU's Zeb Hilburn was perfect on the mound for the first four innings, and was spotted to a 1-0 lead when Giovanni Fiallo singled in T. J. Griggs in the fourth inning.

Hilburn didn't allow a single base runner until the fifth inning. In the top of the sixth, Valley finally broke through when Hogan Barnes hit a bases-loaded double that cleared the bases.

Joel Gafford singled in another run in the seventh for the final margin.

Chris Mills (5-1) picked up the win for MVSU. Hilburn (4-4) was tagged with toss for the Hornets.

Alabama State 8, Mississippi Valley State 6

The first three Hornet batters all got on base, setting the stage for Furquan Shamsud-Din. The senior catcher - who has already graduated with a degree in mathematics - did a little adding of his own on the scoreboard as he hammered his third home run of the season.

ASU added another run in the second when the second of Christopher Davis' three hits drove in Breon Landers to make the score 5-0.

After three strong innings, ASU's Marquise Blake found trouble in the fourth. The Delta Devils Willie Mayes hit a home run with one out. After Valley later loaded the bases, Norris Kyles came on to replace Blake. Kyles promptly induced Valley's leadoff hitter Paul Olson into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

When the Hornets added three more runs in the sixth, the game seemed all but over as ASU led 8-1.

However, the Delta Devils rallied for five runs in the seventh before Devin Dominguez got MVSU's Olson to fly out to deep right field to end the game.

Kyles (2-0) earned the win for ASU, while Joel Gafford (1-2) was the loser.

NOTES:The Hornets hit the field again on Saturday, April 12 when they host Alcorn State for Senior night. First pitch at Paterson Field is set for 6 p.m. Admission is free.