Alcorn Game Notes
YOUNGSVILLE, La. – The Alcorn State University softball program will play five games in three days at the Mardi Gras Mambo, hosted by Southeastern Louisiana at the Youngsville Sports Complex.
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The Lady Braves (5-7) will play one game Friday at 3 p.m. against Incarnate Word at Assurance Financial Field. On Saturday, Alcorn will face Nicholls at 3 p.m. at Pixus Field, and Southeastern Louisiana at 5 p.m. at Lafayette General Health Field. The Lady Braves will round it out Sunday with two games at Pixus Field against Abilene Christian at 10 a.m. and IUW at 12 p.m.
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"We are looking forward to getting back on the field. We've had the opportunity to get some recovery in the last few days after the taxing week we had last week. That was a tough stretch. We are ready to get back on the field," said Alcorn head coach
Josef Rankin. "They challenge we've had with this weather is we haven't had much practice time on the field since Martin Luther King Day due to the rain and drainage issues on our field. But our players have handled that adversity well."
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Alcorn went through a stretch of seven games in four days and posted a 4-3 record. The Lady Braves were originally scheduled to play a doubleheader against Southern Miss yesterday, but it was moved to Wednesday, Feb. 26.
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Junior
Amari Ramsey is the reigning SWAC Hitter of the Week winner. She hit for a .529 average, .619 on-base percentage and .824 slugging percentage over seven games at the River City Classic. She went 9-for-17 with four walks, five doubles, seven RBIs and seven runs scored.
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On the season, senior
Simone McKinney leads the team with a .405 average. She's one of five Lady Braves hitting over .300 along with junior
Ashley Arnold (.370), senior
Brittney Triplett (.355), Ramsey (.345) and junior
Desirea Lindsey (.344). Ramsey and Lindsey have started all 12 games.
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In the circle, senior
Ambria Dorsey has pitched 24.0 innings and is 2-2 with a 4.38 ERA. She ranks sixth all-time in Alcorn history in strikeouts (152), seventh in games started (43), eighth in innings pitched (263.1) and 10th in wins (11).
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Ramsey continues to climb up the Alcorn record book at the plate and is 12 hits away from 100. She ranks top-five in doubles (26) and eighth in homers (9). Ramsey ripped five doubles over seven games over the weekend.
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"We have five opportunities this weekend. It's been a few years since we've played Incarnate Word. They are usually scrappy and can swing the bats. I don't believe we've played Abilene Christian since I've been here. We are very familiar with SLU and Nicholls. We have to do a great job of doing what we do at a high level. As I stated before, we have to embrace that identity and go compete," Rankin said.
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IUW is 4-5 on the season, and 2-0 against the SWAC with wins over Texas Southern 7-6 and Grambling State 2-1. Alcorn's only meetings against IUW came in 2016 as the Lady Braves dropped a doubleheader 7-4 and 1-0.
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ACU is 2-7 with wins over UT Arlington 4-2 and Missouri State 7-2. It will be the first-ever meeting between Alcorn and ACU.
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Nicholls is 4-8. The Lady Colonels topped the Lady Braves 9-1 earlier this year. Alcorn scored on a sacrifice fly by Ramsey in the first inning.
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SLU is off to a very strong 8-3 start. The Lady Lions beat Alabama State 12-4 and Grambling State 10-2. The Lady Braves will meet SLU for the 27th time in school history and are looking for their first win in the all-time series since a 3-1 victory in 2014.
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#FearTheBrave
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