Despite a rugged start in the early goings of the 2015 season, the Lady Braves softball team picked up two wins this afternoon against Kentucky State, 8-4 and 13-5 (5 inn.).

Lady Braves 8, Kentucky State 4
Sophomore pitcher sensation Jazmin Castillo struck out 12 batters which included putting away seven consecutive batters between the first and third innings.

Kentucky State jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning but the Lady Braves bounced back scoring three runs in the bottom half to go ahead 3-2.

The bats went the swinging in the third inning after Taylor Hughes started the inning with a lead-off triple.  Rayven Riggs stepped up next and singled to advance Hughes to third.  Hughes and Riggs would score later on some wild pitches to give the Lady Braves a 5-3 lead.

Sametria Collins led off the fourth inning with a single and Adriana Gutierrez reached on a fielder's choice.  Alexandria Harris came up and hit a RBI double to score Gutierrez.  Hughes singled to score Harris and Jordenne Taylor doubled to score Hughes. The Lady Braves 8-4 lead stood with them for the rest of the way. 

Lady Braves 13, Kentucky State 5
Kentucky State scored four runs in the second inning to take a 4-0 lead.

The Lady Braves quickly regrouped and scored three runs in the bottom of the second inning to close the gap to 4-3. 

The Lady Thoroughbreds scored their last run in the third inning before the Lady Braves took charge of the game.

Hughes bat went to work again hitting a triple in the third inning.  Taylor came up next and singled to score Hughes.  After Riggs doubled, Maya Raines hit a two RBI double to give the Lady Braves their first lead of game two, 6-5.

Collins singled to lead off in the fourth inning.  Two batters later, Harris recorded her first homerun of the year on a two-run inside the park homerun.  Hughes tripled once again for the fourth time of the day followed by Riggs' walk. The Lady Braves scored four runs in the fourth and extended their lead to 9-5.

The Lady Braves ended the game in the fifth inning on a RBI double by Taylor to score Hughes.

Hughes finished the day with four triples, five hits and six runs.  Taylor collected four hits, two doubles and recorded four RBIs and Harris picked up four RBIs, three hits and four runs

Castillo picked up two wins while striking out 17 total batters and only walking two.

The Lady Braves (2-7) return home next Wednesday against Southeastern Louisiana at 1:00 p.m.