The Alabama State Hornets baseball team is the varsity intercollegiate baseball program of Alabama State University in Montgomery, Alabama, United States. The program's first season was in 1926, and it has been a member of the NCAA Division I while competing in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) since the start of the 1983 season. Its home venue is the Wheeler–Watkins Baseball Complex, located on Alabama State's campus. José Vázquez has been the team's head coach since the beginning of the 2017 season. The program has appeared in two NCAA tournaments. It has won two conference tournament championships and one regular season conference title. As of the start of the 2018 Major League Baseball season, one former Hornet has appeared in Major League Baseball.
History
Early history The program's first season of play was 1926.
The Hornets won their first ever SWAC title in 2016 and made their first appearance in the NCAA Division I baseball tournament, falling to #16 Florida State and South Alabama in the Tallahassee Regional. The Hornets won a second SWAC title in 2022 before bowing out to #1 Tennessee and Georgia Tech in the Knoxville Regional.
Alabama State in the NCAA Tournament 2016 0–2 Tallahassee Regional 2022 0–2 Knoxville Regional 2026 0–2 Tuscaloosa Regional 0–6
Conference affiliations Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (1926–1982) Southwestern Athletic Conference (1983–present)
Wheeler–Watkins Baseball Complex
The venue is named for two former Alabama State baseball coaches, Herbert Wheeler and Larry Watkins. Opened in March 2011, the facility has a capacity of 500 spectators.
Head coaches Alabama State's longest tenured head coach was Larry Watkins, who coached the team from 1982 to 2011.
Records 1957–1981 Herbert Wheeler* 25 174–200–2 1982–2011 Larry Watkins 30 482–729–6 2012–2016 Mervyl Melendez 5 253–471 2017–present José Vázquez 10 295–207 Totals 4 coaches 43 seasons 1,069–1,511–8 *Wheeler's record only shows 17 seasons, he has 8 years with unknown records.
Notable former players Below is a list of notable former Hornets and the seasons in which they played for Alabama State.
Harvey Branch (1957–1958)
See also List of NCAA Division I baseball programs
References
External links