Softball | 4/7/2017 9:11:00 AM

First-Place Lady Braves Travel to Alabama State for Pivotal Series

Alcorn Game Notes

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – In a showdown between the top two teams in the SWAC East Division, the Alcorn State University softball program will square off against Alabama State in a three-game series at the Barbara Williams Softball Complex.
 
Alcorn (10-23, 7-2 SWAC) and ASU (11-23, 6-3 SWAC) will play a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. Saturday, followed by the series finale Sunday at 1 p.m.
 
The Lady Braves hold a one-game lead over the Hornets. With a series win, Alcorn could potentially have at least a two-game lead over the preseason favorites with the tiebreaker.
 
The Lady Braves are coming off a three-game sweep over rival Jackson State last weekend. Alcorn outscored the Lady Tigers 20-4 in the series including a five-inning 9-1 victory in game two.
 
Junior Robin Harrison is the reigning SWAC Pitcher of the Week winner. It came after she tossed a complete-game seven-inning shutout over JSU last Friday in a 5-0 victory. Harrison needed just 90 pitches to go the distance. She struck out four and scattered three hits during her performance. The three hits allowed marked the lowest in a game by an Alcorn pitcher this season.
 
In the sweep over JSU, junior Taylor Hughes hit for a .625 batting average, .700 on-base percentage and .875 slugging. She tallied five hits in eight at-bats with a walk and a hit-by-pitch. Two of her five hits went for extra bases. Additionally, she drove in six RBI with zero strikeouts.
 
Hughes is one of two Lady Braves hitting over .400 with a team-high .423 batting average. Junior Jessica Crum is hitting for a .419 mark with seven homers, 39 RBI and a .774 slugging. Both Hughes and Crum rank top-five in the SWAC in batting average. Crum leads the league in RBI and doubles with 12. Hughes is hitting for a .625 average in conference.
 
Junior Mariah Ortiz is all over the SWAC rankings. She is second in runs scored (31), third in triples (3) and fourth in plate appearances (115). She's hitting for a .327 average and .404 on-base percentage on the season, and a .406 average and .513 on-base percentage in conference.
 
Freshman pitcher Ambria Dorsey has been unhittable in conference. In three appearances and 11.2 innings, she carries a 0.60 earned run average, allowing just one earned run.
 
In SWAC play, Alcorn has outscored the opposition 70-27.
 
The Hornets took two out of three from Alabama A&M last weekend at home. Kendall Core is a big threat in the middle of the lineup with eight homers, 29 RBI and a .622 slugging percentage. She hits for a .327 average. Vanessa Bradford is the team's ace with a 7-7 record, 4.78 ERA and four complete games.
 
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