LORMAN, Miss. – A walk-off double by freshman
Ashley Arnold evened the doubleheader as the Alcorn State University softball program won game two 2-1 after dropping the first to Alabama State 4-1 Friday at the Alcorn Softball Complex.
Arnold's hit ended a pitcher's duel between Alcorn (8-25, 5-3 SWAC) junior
Paige Taylor and ASU's (17-23, 7-4 SWAC) Skylar Sullivan. Arnold came up with one out in the seventh and a runner on second when she ripped a double to left center to plate sophomore
Alicia Hill.
"We had some great pitching, defense and at-bats today. Offensively, it was just a matter of not cashing in on some opportunities in game one, but sometimes you really have to find a way to grind it out like we did in game two. The bottom of the seventh was about as perfect as you want it to be," said Alcorn head coach
Josef Rankin. "I am very proud of our team."
The story for most of game two was Taylor in the circle. She tossed a complete-game and allowed just one run on two hits to pick up the win. She outlasted Sullivan who took the loss after throwing 6.1 frames.
Alcorn got on the board in the second inning. It came after senior
Mariah Ortiz reached on an error, advanced to second on a wild pitch and to third in a single by Hill. With two outs, Hill broke for second as if she was going to steal, and after she drew a throw from the catcher, Ortiz darted for home to steal a run.
ASU evened in the fifth. It came via a wild pitch with the bases loaded. Though, Taylor was able to get out of the jam by recording a two-out pop up.
It remained even until the seventh when Hill led it off with a solid rip to left field. She advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior
Robin Harrison and scored on Arnold's game-winner.
Hill was 2-for-2 at the plate for her fourth multi-hit game of the year. Freshman
Desirea Lindsey, the SWAC Hitter of the Week winner, singled up the middle in the third inning.
Game one got off to a similar fashion as the Lady Braves scored early. Freshman
Amari Ramsey led-off the first inning with a stand-up triple to right center and scored on a passed ball to make it 1-0 Alcorn.
Harrison was cruising through the game on the mound and did not allow a hit until the sixth when trouble started brewing. ASU's first hit of the contest was a lead-off single, and the Hornets were able to string together two more in a row after that to load the bases with no outs. ASU took the lead on a two-RBI double by Kristin Gunter, and tacked on two more with a two-RBI single to right by Charlene Castro to go up 4-1.
Harrison struck out six in 5.2 frames but was tagged with the loss. Junior
Winter Ridgeway fired 1.1 scoreless innings of relief. Justine Jean was credited the win for the Hornets after throwing a complete-game. She fanned seven.
Both teams recorded six hits in the match. Ramsey was 2-for-4 for her ninth multi-hit performance of the year.
The Lady Braves have now won four of the last five games against the Hornets dating back to last year.
Alcorn's win in game two of the doubleheader snapped ASU's six-game winning-streak.
As of now, the series finale is still slated for 1 p.m. Saturday. The teams are monitoring the weather as rain is expected to hit for most of the day
#FearTheBrave
