FAMU baseball rallies from late tie for to claim SWAC series victory over Alabama State

MONTGOMERY, AL ― The Florida A&M Rattlers broke through after a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning to take down the Alabama State Hornets 12-3 Sunday.

Junior Tanner Walker (1-0) picked up the victory out of the bullpen for FAMU (25-24, 20-7). The right-hander went four shutout innings while giving up four hits.

At the plate, the Rattlers were paced by sophomore Broedy Poppell, who went 3-for-5 on the day with two home runs and four RBI. Freshman Josue Figueroa put together a noteworthy effort as well, going 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI. Senior Jalen Niles also contributed for FAMU, putting together three hits in five trips to the plate while adding an RBI.

The Rattlers got on the scoreboard first, starting in the second inning. FAMU scored twice, with one run coming across on senior Ty Jackson's single.

The Hornets failed to push any runs across before the Rattlers offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. Junior Janmikell Bastardo came across to score the lone run of the inning for FAMU, which brought the score to 3-0 in favor of the Rattlers.

Alabama State fired back to tie the ballgame at three before FAMU reclaimed a 5-3 advantage in the seventh inning. The Rattlers added two to their tally on Poppell's two-run homer to right.

FAMU held the Hornets scoreless before their offense got back to their scoring ways the next inning. The Rattlers notched two runs in the frame, the big hit being an RBI double from Figueroa, bringing the FAMU advantage to 7-3.

The Rattlers held Alabama State off the board before building on their lead to 12-3 the following inning. The FAMU offense piled up five runs, highlighted by a two-run home run off the bat of Poppell. The score remained 12-3 for the rest of the game, as the Rattlers coasted to the win.

This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU Baseball: Rattlers claim SWAC series victory over Alabama State