LORMAN, Miss. – Extending its winning-streak to five-games, the Alcorn State University softball program breezed to a doubleheader sweep 17-1 and 17-0 over Rust College on Tuesday at the Alcorn Softball Complex.
The Lady Braves (7-14, 3-3 SWAC) registered 26 hits over the two games. Over their five-game winning-streak, they've scored double-digit runs in every game.
"It was good to let some of the younger players get on the field who hadn't gotten a chance to play a whole lot to this point of the season. We did a pretty good job all around. We stayed clean defensively and swung the bats well," said Alcorn head coach
Josef Rankin.
In the first game of the doubleheader, freshman
Sandrea Hord went 3-for-3 with a triple, two runs scored and five RBIs. Multi-hit games also came from sophomore
Ashley Arnold, freshman
Daijah Richardson and sophomore
Bri Smith.
Hord turned in another big outing in game two by going 3-for-3 with a double, triple, three runs scored and four RBIs. Freshman
Zyon Feazell also registered three hits, while Arnold and sophomore
Teona Bowles recorded two apiece.
Junior
Ambria Dorsey and senior
Paige Taylor each picked up wins. Dorsey started game one and struck out seven batters in 4.0 innings, while Taylor fired a one-hitter in a complete-game shutout and struck out 10 in game two. Junior
Alexsis Ramirez made a relief appearance in game one and threw a scoreless frame.
"The idea is always for us to focus on ourselves no matter who the opponent is," Rankin said. "We were in a similar position as Rust was a few years ago, and I give them credit because they played with some energy. We know how that can be, but it was good for us to take care of what we needed to do."
The Lady Braves wasted little time setting the tone as they scored eight runs in their first at-bat of game one. The big blow was a base-clearing triple down the left field line by Hord which brought in three runs.
Alcorn scored four more in the second inning to go up 12-0. It included a two-RBI double to right-center by Arnold.
The Lady Braves extended it to 13-0 in the third on an RBI hit to right by junior
Keelee Huff. Alcorn scored four insurance runs in the fourth to pad its advantage.
It was more of the same in game two as Alcorn jumped in front right away with four runs in the first inning. The Lady Braves catapulted in front 11-0 with a seven-running second inning including a two-RBI hit by Richardson to left field.
A two-RBI double to left-center by Landry extended the lead to 14-0 in the third. Alcorn tacked on three more in the fourth including RBIs by Hord, Feazell and junior
Taja Landry.
"We've been doing a better job lately of playing together and executing. We're starting to really believe in ourselves more, especially from an offensive standpoint. We have to get some more work in the rest of the week and make sure we're ready to go for Friday," Rankin said.
Rust was led by Marlana Taylor who knocked a hit in each game. The Bearcats scored their only run in the fourth inning of game one when Chelsea Robinson singled up the middle, advanced to second on a walk and stole third. She scored on a groundout.
With a pair of walks in game one and a hit in game two, junior
Brittney Triplett extended her on-base streak to nine games.
The Lady Braves have now used 19 different batting orders in 21 games.
Alcorn improved to 7-0 all-time against Rust.
Alcorn will close out its five-game homestand this weekend when it hosts Mississippi Valley State in a three-game series. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. Friday.
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