NEW ORLEANS – The Alabama A&M Bulldogs surged late with a six-run eighth inning and held off a late New Orleans Privateers comeback to secure a 10-8 decision on Friday during the first day of the Maestri Classic.
The Privateers got the lead in the seventh inning through a
Karson Evans solo home run that broke a 4-4 tie. From there, the Bulldogs drew two walks to start the eighth inning that set up Tervell Johnson's three-run homer that put Alabama A&M in front for the first time since the second inning.
Later in the frame, Keilon Parnell delivered a bases clearing three-run double that extended the Bulldog lead to 10-5.
New Orleans rallied to bring the tying run to the plate in the ninth and put the pressure on the Bulldogs up until the final out. After two singles and a walk loaded the bases,
Dylan Biddick drilled a triple to deep center that scored three runs and cut the Bulldogs lead to two.
Antonio Torres then came on to close out the game and he induced a shallow fly out and got a strikeout to end the night. The Bulldogs pitching staff recorded 14 strikeouts on the game to pick up their first win of the season and their first in four ever meetings against New Orleans.
William Andrade set a strong tone on the mound early for the Privateers. He overcame a second inning solo home run by Johnson but was otherwise near flawless over 4.1 innings in his first start. Andrade struck out four batters and left the game with a 4-1 lead.
That lead was engineered by Biddick and
Miles Curley who each had hits that scored two runs. Curley hit a single to center that brought in the first two runs and Biddick followed with a two-run homer off starter, Edyn Barber.
Johnson had two homers and four RBI to lead the Bulldogs. Zamar Lewis went 2-for-3 with a homer and two RBI. Evan Hurlburt picked up the win in relief after 1.2 scoreless innings with no hits allowed and two strikeouts.
INSIDE THE BOX
Curley and
Eli Tidwell each had four-hit nights to lead a Privateer offense that had 15 hits as a team.
Evan Rogers had two hits and two stolen bases. Evans finished with two hits in three at-bats and reached base four times.
NEXT UP
The Privateers continue the weekend on Saturday against Northern Kentucky with a first pitch set for 4 p.m.
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