Lady Braves Sting Hornets 12-3 to Put Exclamation Point on Weekend

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Power was on full display Sunday when the Alcorn State University softball program launched three homers en-route to a 12-3, five-inning victory over Alabama State at the Barbara Williams Softball Complex.
 
As a result, the Lady Braves (13-23, 10-2 SWAC) swept the three-game series over preseason favorite ASU (11-26, 6-6) with five-inning wins in back-to-back games. Alcorn outscored the Hornets 25-6 over the weekend.
 
"Today completed a great weekend," said Alcorn head coach Josef Rankin. "Sometimes you need weekends like this to build confidence within your program to see that we are headed in the right direction."
 
The Lady Braves, who have won six games in a row after sweeping Jackson State last weekend, were led by senior Vanessa Sanders who knocked a pair of hits to go along with three RBI and a run scored. It was her sixth multi-hit game of the year.
 
The biggest blow came in the fourth inning when junior Bre Glenn hit a grand slam to make it an 11-1 score.
 
Junior Hughes extended her on-base streak to 11 games and her hitting-streak to six. She ended five-for-nine (.556) over the weekend with a .667 on-base and a .667 slugging percentage.
 
Alcorn got on the board quickly with three runs in its first at-bat. It loaded the bases after senior Sametria Collins walked, junior Mariah Ortiz was hit by a pitch and Hughes walked. Junior Jessica Crum plated Collins with an RBI ground out, and Sanders knocked a single to right center to score Ortiz and Hughes.
 
After ASU got one back in the bottom of the first, the Lady Braves tacked on two more in the third to lead 5-1. It came on a two-run blast to left center by sophomore Victoria Tyler with one out which scored senior Montana Holyfield who walked. It was Tyler's second homer of the year.
 
Alcorn broke the game open with six runs in the fourth. Ortiz walked and advanced to third on a double to left center by Hughes. Crum lined out to right field, but Ortiz scored and Hughes moved to third. Sanders followed with an RBI single up the middle to score Hughes.
 
With two outs, Holyfield singled to right center to advance Sanders to third, and Tyler walked to load up the bases. Glenn came through with her third dinger of the year to wipe the bases clean.
 
The Lady Braves added one more in the fifth on a two-out bomb by Crum to center. It marked her ninth homer and 45th RBI of the season.
 
In the circle, freshman Ambria Dorsey earned the win by tossing a complete-game. She allowed just three runs and struck out a pair. She threw 64 pitches.
 
"Ambria did an outstanding job today of making them put the ball in play," said Rankin. "Our defense didn't commit an error all weekend. It's just about competing and believing that you can be good if we do it together with great energy and effort."
 
Vanessa Bradford started for ASU but lasted just 1.2 innings while taking the loss. Charlene Castro entered in relief but surrendered eight runs in 2.0 frames. Amy Felices tossed the final 1.1 innings and gave up Crum's homer.
 
"We will celebrate today and then go back to work," Rankin said. "We still have more work to do to our reach goal, but it sure does feel good to get another sweep."
 
The Lady Braves are four games ahead of Alabama State and 4.5 in front of Alabama A&M. Alcorn travels to AAMU for a three-game series next weekend. The Lady Braves host Nicholls State in a doubleheader Tuesday beginning at 1 p.m.
 
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