UML Edges Alcorn 4-3, Lady Braves Drop Night Cap to SLU 10-2

RUSTON, La. – Senior Taylor Hughes tied the all-time school record for career hits, but the Alcorn State University softball program dropped a 4-3 decision to UMass-Lowell and 10-2 result to Saint Louis in six innings Friday at the Lady Techster Softball Complex.
 
Hughes registered two hits for Alcorn (1-7) in the first game and another in the second to increase her total to 151 in her career. She's tied with Amber Steeves who tallied 151 hits from 2005-08 to set the Alcorn record.
 
Hughes raised her batting average to .409 on the year.
 
The Lady Braves led UML (1-6) 3-1 in the bottom of the sixth when they surrendered a two-run homer to tie it. UML was able to walk it off in seventh to snatch a closely contested battle.
 
"We are just really searching right now to find our identity," said head coach Josef Rankin. "We actually played better defensively. Winter [Ridgeway] pitched well in the first one. UMass-Lowell did a great job of battling back and came up with some big hits."
 
The second game against SLU (2-5) was highlighted by a two-run homer by junior Victoria Tyler.
 
"In game two, we just couldn't recover from St. Louis' fast start. They swung the bats really well," Rankin said. "We need to find more offense. Sometimes it boils down to how much you care and how invested you are. We are being tested early on here and the test is showing some good things and some other things that don't need to be apart of our program, but we will continue to work to get better."
 
Game One
UML scored in the first inning, but the Lady Braves responded with two runs in the second to take a 2-1 lead. Freshman Malea Dickerson doubled to left center and scored on a throwing error to tie it. Alcorn took the lead on an RBI ground out by senior Mariah Ortiz which plated sophomore Alicia Hill who was hit by a pitch.
 
The Lady Braves tacked-on another in the third frame to go up 3-1. Hughes led-off the inning with a single and advanced to second on an error. She moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly to deep left by freshman Amari Ramsey.
 
Junior Winter Ridgeway was cruising along in the circle until the sixth inning when she gave up a one-out single, followed by a two-run homer by Casey Harding to left field to even the score at 3-3.
 
UML won it in the bottom of the seventh on a walk-off single by Harding. It came with one out and the bases loaded.
 
Ridgeway threw 6.0 innings and struck out three. Freshman Lindsey Eldridge recorded an out in the seventh inning.
 
Lovina Capria picked up the win for UML as a reliever after throwing 4.2 scoreless innings. Harding was two-for-three with three RBI at the plate.
 
It was the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
 
Game Two
SLU (2-5) jumped on the Lady Braves early with a run in the first, two in the second and five in the third. It came on a total of 12 hits.
 
Tyler's home run came in the bottom of the fourth to cut the deficit to 8-2. After Hughes singled to left field, Tyler cleared the bases with a blast on a full count. It was her first homer of the year and third of her career.
 
The Billikens plated their final two runs in the sixth on one hit, two walks and a pair of wild pitches.
 
Senior Robin Harrison was tagged with the loss after throwing 2.1 innings. Sophomore Ambria Dorsey tossed 3.2 innings in relief and struck out three.
 
Kallen Loveless tossed all six innings for SLU and earned the win. She struck out nine and had zero walks. Sadie Wise was three-for-five at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI.
 
The Lady Braves will play two more games Saturday. They'll get it started at 1 p.m. against South Dakota and cap it with a 7 p.m. contest versus Missouri State. Alcorn will complete the tournament Sunday with a 1 p.m. game against the host institution Louisiana Tech.
 
Visiting the Tournament Central Page for updated scores from all games as well as links to live stats and live video.
 
#FearTheBrave