BIRMINGHAM, Al. - Harris-Stowe State Univesity baseball opened the Willie Mays Classic at Rickwwod Field with a 6-2 win over Miles College on Friday morning. With the win, the Hornets improve to 1-2 on the season while the Golden Bears fall to 3-2 on the season.

The Golden Bears would strike first with a single run in the bottom of the first. The Hornets second inning would start with a walk to senior outfielder Skywalker Mann (Lee's Summit, Mo.), junior first baseman Logan Schwerdt (Saint Peters, Mo.) would single. Freshman catcher Jayden Matthews (Fayatteville, Ark.) would single to right that would score Mann to tie the game at one. A walk to sophomore catcher Dima Cornell-Neal (Trumbull, Ct.) would load the bases for senior outfielder Jeremy Kelly (Oranjestad, Aruba) who would drive in Schwerdt with a sacrifice fly to give the Hornets a 2-1 lead.

After the Golden Bears tied it in the bottom of the second the Hornets would answer in the top of the third. After senior outfielder Za'Maree Tillman (Bakersfield, Calif.) reached on an error and senior third baseman Malvin Gutierrez (Harlem, New York) walked the Hornets were threatening. A single by Schwerdt scored Tillman to make it 3-2. After Mattews was hit by pitch to load the bases a walk to Neal extended the lead to 4-2. Schwerdt would score on a passed ball to extend the lead to 5-2.

The Hornets would tack on another run in the seventh after a double by Neal to lead off the inning. A single from junior middle infielder Michael Khatkar (Vancouver, Canada) extended the lead to 6-2.

Junior right handed pitcher Dakota Gaines (Jay, Okla.) got the start on the mound and went 6.1 innings while striking out a career-high 10 batters to pick up the win. Schwerdt relieved Gaines in the seventh and got the last two outs in the game.

The Hornets return to action on Saturday, February 8th at 11:45 am against Dillard at Rickwood Field in their second game of the Willie Mays Classic.