With the win, the Rattlers now advance to the championship game at 1 pm tomorrow where they will face in-state rival Bethune-Cookman.
The Rattlers went 2-4 against the Wildcats during the regular season.
HOW IT HAPPENED
The Rattlers got the scoring started early, putting two runs on the board in the top of the first inning. Florida A&M plated two runs when Bastardo left the yard with junior Ty Jackson aboard.
The Hornets failed to push any runs across before the Rattlers built on their lead in the fourth inning. Brown 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 narrowed FAMU’s lead to 3-2 before the Rattlers stretched the advantage to 6-2 in the fifth inning.
FAMU kept the Hornets scoreless before their offense got back in action the next inning. The Rattlers notched a run on Weber's one-out RBI double, bringing the score to 7-2 in favor of FAMU.
Alabama State got within 7-4 until the Rattlers scored again in the ninth inning to stretch its lead to 8-4. Florida A&M pushed across a run on freshman Joseph Pierini's RBI double. The score remained 8-4 for the rest of the game, as the Rattlers coasted to the win.
Yesterday's game against Alabama State was the ninth meeting between the two teams this season, with the Hornets holding the regular season advantage 5 games to 1. FAMU, however, won the head to head tournament match up with the Hornets 2 games 1.