Two words that most college baseball fans look forward to each year begins on Friday.
Season opener.
Alabama State opens the 2022 season on the road Friday morning at 11 am at the Andre Dawson Classic, facing defending Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) champion Southern. That game is the first of three on the weekend for the Hornets who will face Florida A&M on Friday night at 6 pm in a game that will be carried on MLB TV, before closing the weekend at New Orleans on Sunday morning.
The Hornets will hand the ball to junior lefthander Jeremy Rivera (Toa Alta, PR) against Southern who finished 3-0 last season after getting a late start due to a preseason injury. He finished with a 4.28 earned run average and 1.65 WHIP, recording 41 strikeouts in 34.1 innings pitched. He will have several key players returning around him this season including his battery mate in junior Hunter May (Slidell, La.) who hit .351 last season on his way to being named All-SWAC. He finished with 13 extra-base hits and drove in 24 runs last season.
Alabama State (23-19 last season) also returns infielders Chris Lewis (Alabaster, Ala.), Jayden Sloan (Montgomery, Ala.) and Cristopher DeGuzman (Fajardo, PR), each selected as preseason All-SWAC. DeGuzman, a first team selection, hit .367 last season with an OPS of .957. He also drove in 44 runs and connected on 14 extra-base hits. Meanwhile, Lewis and Sloan each were picked preseason Second Team.
The Hornets also return their power threat in junior Trenton Jamison (Atlanta, Ga.) who makes the move to the outfield this season. Last season, he led the team with a .390 batting average with 22 extra-base hits and 44 runs batted in. The junior was named a Dick Howser semifinalist and was named to the Bobby Bragan Watch List to start this season. Senior Jabronski Williams (Troy, Ala.) also returns to solidify the outfield after hitting .320 in 2021.
Alabama State will send senior righthander Breon Pooler (Huntsville, Ala.) to the mound on Saturday against Florida A&M with the game on MLB-TV. Last season, he finished 5-3 with 84 strikeouts in 64.1 innings pitched. They will then turn to righthander Austin King (Fulton, Miss.) who returns after a season in which he finished 2-2 with a 4.74 earned run average.