Alcorn Sweeps Series over AAMU with Two Wins Saturday; Hughes Becomes All-Time Doubles Leader

LORMAN, Miss. – In front of its largest crowd of the season, the Alcorn State University softball program completed a three-game sweep over Alabama A&M by winning two games Saturday by the scores of 6-4 and 13-2 at the Alcorn Softball Complex.
 
The doubleheader started with a back-and-forth battle in game one. Alcorn (11-27, 8-3 SWAC) trailed 4-3 when it used a three-run sixth inning to jump in front heading into the final frame. In game two, the Lady Braves poured it on early and often to mercy-rule the Bulldogs (19-15, 9-5 SWAC) in five innings.
 
"It's always good to get a sweep, really good. We wanted to prove something this weekend, especially when seeing how red-hot they were coming into our place. On the weekend, we outscored them 31-10 and outhit them 33-14," said head coach Josef Rankin.
 
AAMU entered the weekend with a 9-2 SWAC record and on a seven-game winning-streak. The Lady Braves have now surpassed them in the SWAC East Division standings. Alcorn also has a one-game lead over Alabama State in a very tight division race.
 
"I really liked how we battled through some errors and didn't fold. We took care of three steps this weekend and are looking forward to getting some recovery time tomorrow before getting back to work Monday," Rankin said.
 
The Lady Braves have now won eight of the last nine meetings with the Bulldogs dating back to 2016. They also improved to 9-0 this year when scoring at least eight runs in a game.
 
With a double in game one and three doubles in the series finale, senior Taylor Hughes became the all-time doubles leader in Alcorn history. Her 34 doubles over four years broke the mark of 33 set by Alexandria Harris (2012-15).
 
Hughes is also the all-time leader in career hits at Alcorn with 181.
 
Game One
Alcorn scored in its first at-bat. It got started with a double down the left field line by freshman Amari Ramsey, and she scored on a single to left by junior Victoria Tyler to go up 1-0.
 
The Lady Braves tacked on two more in the third to lead 3-0. Back-to-back doubles by Hughes and Tyler plated a run. The second came on a throwing error after a groundball to the shortstop.
 
AAMU did not go down easy and slowly chipped away at the deficit. The Bulldogs scored two in the fourth and one in the fifth to even it 3-3. AAMU took the lead 4-3 in the sixth on an RBI single by Imani Largin.
 
Alcorn's pivotal sixth frame began by freshman Ashley Arnold reaching on an error. She scored the tying run after Ramsey ripped a one-out triple into the right center gap. The very next batter, freshman Desirea Lindsey, singled to left to plate the go-ahead run. To keep the inning going, Hughes knocked a hit up the middle and freshman Alicia Hill singled to left to increase the lead to 6-4.
 
The Bulldogs had one last chance in the seventh after their leadoff hitter walked. Though, a nicely turned 6-4-3 double play from Ramsey to Lindsey to Hughes quickly wiped the bases clean. The game ended with a pop-up to first.
 
Ramsey was 3-for-4 at the plate with two runs scored and an RBI. It was her 10th multi-hit game and third three-hit affair of the year. Hughes and Tyler also tallied multi-hit games with two hits apiece.
 
In the circle, junior Paige Taylor lasted 5.0 innings and struck out a pair. She surrendered three runs but none of them were earned. Junior Winter Ridgeway earned the win in relief for the second straight day.
 
Largin pitched the whole way for AAMU and took the loss. She struck out six but gave up six runs with three earned. Tiana Sanders led the Bulldogs at the plate with a pair of hits and two runs scored.
 
Alcorn outhit AAMU 11-3 in the match.
 
Game Two
Hughes turned in a monster performance by going 3-for-3 with three doubles, two runs scored and a whopping six RBI's. She wasn't the only one with three hits as freshman Teona Bowles finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored. Tyler also turned in a solid outing with two hits and four RBI's.
 
"We got contributions in a lot of areas today. Teona Bowles was awesome. I have to commend her because it's hard to be patient when it comes to playing time, but she's been a great teammate. She stepped up after Mariah [Ortiz] couldn't go today," Rankin said.
 
The critical moment in the game came in the top of the first inning when AAMU loaded the bases. Sophomore Ambria Dorsey forced a groundout to short to end the inning, and it was all downhill from there.
 
Alcorn scored at least two runs in all four of its at-bats including a pair of four-run frames.
 
It started in the first as Hughes came up with a pair of runners on base and she plated both of them with a double down the left field line to go up 2-0.
 
The Lady Braves took a big 6-0 lead in the second after four runs on four hits. It was nearly deja vu as Hughes came up and cranked a double to score two runs. Tyler followed with a double to left center to score two more.
 
After AAMU got on the board with two in the third, Alcorn punched back with four in the bottom half. The theme remained the same as Hughes came up with the bases loaded and split the gap in left center to score two runs. Tyler, the very next hitter, smashed a single up the middle to increase the edge to 10-2.
 
Alcorn broke it open with three runs in the fourth by taking advantage of a pair of defensive miscues. With two runners on, freshman Ashley Arnold laid down a bunt to third and an errant throw ended up in right field as two runs scored. Bowles kept the inning alive with a double to right and came around to score on a fielding error at second.
 
Dorsey tossed a complete-game and did not allow an earned run to pick up the win. She allowed four hits in 5.0 innings and struck out a pair. Rachel Sanders got the loss for AAMU after giving up 10 runs, five earned in 3.0 innings.
 
Hughes' six RBI's are tied for the most by any student-athlete in the SWAC in a single-game this season.


 
Alcorn will look to carry momentum into Tuesday when it travels to Ole Miss for a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m.
 
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