Morgan Academy will get a second chance to win the school’s first-ever state baseball championship.

The Senators and Pike Liberal Arts split their best-of-3 AISA State Championship series on Wednesday at Riverwalk Stadium in Montgomery.  Morgan Academy won Game 1 13-1, but the Patriots rallied to even the series with a 7-6 victory.

The Senators (30-1) and Patriots (25-11) will play a decisive Game 3 on Thursday at 11 a.m. at Riverwalk Stadium. Pike Liberal Arts is the defending AAA state champions.

Morgan Academy coach Stephen Clements made no excuses about the Senators suffering their first loss of the season.

“Hats off to Pike Liberal Arts, they played hard,” Clements said. “Pike Liberal Arts played with intensity in both games. We played well the first game, but we didn’t play well in the second game.”

Morgan Academy leftfielder Dione Allen said the Game 2 defeat is in the rearview mirror and looking forward to Thursday’s contest.

“We’ll go home today and focus on what we didn’t do right in Game 2,” Allen said. “We’ll come back Thursday and focus on winning the championship.”

The Senators cruised to an easy victory in Game 1, which ended after three innings because of the state’s 10-run mercy rule.

Matthew Davis drove in six runs, including a grand slam in the second inning. Gunnar Henderson and Dione Allen each had two hits and a pair of RBI.  David Ducote scored three runs.

Jeremy Lee was the winning pitcher, striking out five batters, allowing two hits and a run through three innings.

The Senators appeared headed toward a series sweep in the second game, leading 4-0 after four innings. Lee started the game and was replaced by Henderson in the fourth inning.

The Patriots, however, scored seven unanswered runs to grab a 7-4 lead after six innings.

Pike Liberal Arts grabbed the lead with a four-spot in the seventh. Max Copeland scored on a wild pitch. Jade Sikes delivered a two-run triple and later scored on a Senators error.

Morgan Academy didn’t quit, scoring twice in the seventh to get within 7-6. Xavier Green’s RBI triple and Joseph Estes’ RBI single gave the Senators hope. Davis struck out to end the game.

Henderson was the losing pitcher in relief for the Senators.