Alcorn Sweeps MVSU for Eighth Consecutive Victory

LORMAN, Miss. – Upping its winning-streak to eight games, the Alcorn State University softball program completed a three-game sweep over Mississippi Valley State with wins of 4-0 and 4-3 Saturday at the Alcorn Softball Complex.
 
Senior Paige Taylor earned wins in both games. She hurled a complete-game shutout for the Lady Braves (10-14, 6-3 SWAC), and followed it up with allowing just one earned run in 3.1 innings. On the day, she pitched 10.1 frames and gave up just one earned run. Taylor improved to 7-6 on the season.
 
"We found a way to grind out to wins to complete the sweep. Paige Taylor was great today. Sometimes you need a pitcher to be able to carry the team and she really did that in game one today," said Alcorn head coach Josef Rankin.
 
Junior Simone McKinney registered a hit in each game. Fellow junior Brittney Triplett posted a 2-for-4 outing in game one, while sophomore Amari Ramsey and freshman Brooke Roach also knocked hits on the day.
 
"You can't always expect to have double-digit hits or runs. You really have to be able to win close games. Mississippi Valley was tough. Any conference series is tough! It doesn't matter how it looks – just win," Rankin said.
 
MVSU (4-26, 0-9 SWAC) was limited to just two hits in game one.
 
The Lady Braves jumped ahead with three runs in the fourth inning. It started with back-to-back walks by Roach and sophomore Malea Dickerson. Ramsey delivered an RBI single to left field, and another run came in on a groundout by junior Keelee Huff. Alcorn made it 3-0 on a sacrifice fly by junior Eva Scott.
 
Alcorn tacked on an insurance run in the fifth. Triplett led it off with an infield single. After back-to-back walks loaded the bases, Triplett scored on a wild pitch to increase the lead to 4-0.
 
Alejandra Salazar was tagged with the loss for the Delta Devilettes after giving up four runs in four innings. Daisy Page pitched two innings of relief. Deshonte Smith and Jade Arroyo each had a hit.
 
In game two, Alcorn put together one big inning which was all it needed. It was a scoreless game in the third when Scott and sophomore Desirea Lindsey started it off with walks. The duo moved up a base after a sacrifice bunt, and a single by McKinney brought in the first run. After senior Victoria Tyler was hit by a pitch, Roach drew a bases loaded walk to make it 2-0. The Lady Braves scored two more on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly by Dickerson which put them in front 4-0.
 
The Delta Devilettes got two back in the top of the fourth. With runners on first and third, a grounder was hit to second base when Alcorn tried to make a play at the plate, but the runner was safe. MVSU also scored on a fielding error by the pitcher.
 
Junior Ambria Dorsey entered in relief, and not only got out of the jam in the fourth, but also pitched a scoreless fifth and sixth inning.
 
MVSU posed one last threat in the seventh after a leadoff homer to left-center by Demi Slater. However, Dorsey closed it out with a pop-up and two groundouts to earn her second save of the year.
 
"We played defense very well today. We played through a few miscues, but overall our defense played at a high level. I was really proud of our infield for the work they put in today. I don't know if we had too many fly outs. We did well with playing behind our pitchers," Rankin said.
 
McKinney is on a six-game hitting streak and 10-game on-base streak.
 
It was Alcorn's first sweep over MVSU since 2000. The Lady Braves are on their longest winning-streak since 1997 when they won a school-record 10 in a row.
 
The Lady Braves will look to keep rolling Tuesday when they travel to Memphis for a 2 p.m. doubleheader.
 
#FearTheBrave