Lady Braves Wrap-Up Mardi Gras Mambo with Defeats to ACU, UIW

YOUNGSVILLE, La. – The Alcorn State University softball program fell 11-1 to Abilene Christian before nearly erasing a large deficit to Incarnate Word, but came up short 8-6 on Sunday at the Youngsville Sports Complex.
 
"There were some things throughout the weekend that were positive. We had some games where we got down big and showed some fight. But we couldn't stay away from giving up some big innings this weekend. We have to find a way to make plays and keep the negative plays to a minimum. Our young pitchers are getting some innings and they are learning," said Alcorn head coach Josef Rankin.
 
Over the five games on the weekend, senior Simone McKinney went 6-for-16 with a walk, which resulted in a .375 batting average and .412 on-base percentage. She's now hitting for a .396 average through 17 games this year.
 
A solid weekend came from junior Ashley Arnold as she was 4-for-12 for a .333 average with three runs scores. Junior Malea Dickerson posted a .300 average and a team-high .417 on-base percentage in four starts.
 
Junior Amari Ramsey, the reigning SWAC Hitter of the Week winner, tallied four hits and is up to 92 in her career. Senior Ambria Dorsey moved into fifth all-time in school history in career strikeouts with 163 after striking out 11 batters in two appearances.
 
"As a whole, we need to grow. Move to the next play. It's the ability to mentally move on – if we do that, then we can be a little better," Rankin said. "There were so many flashes of a group of young ladies who can compete at a high level. We just have to be more consistent with that through the seven innings. We just got to keep getting better."
 
Against ACU, Alcorn's lone run came in the third inning. It started with a leadoff double to left by Arnold, and she advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by McKinney. Junior Desirea Lindsey registered an RBI single down the right field line to get the Lady Braves on the board.
 
Dorsey struck out six batters in 5.0 innings. Senior Alexsis Ramirez pitched an inning in relief and did not allow an earned run.
 
In the finale, the Lady Braves led 2-1 after the first inning against UIW. Alcorn started the game with a single by McKinney, a walk by senior Brittney Triplett and an RBI single to left by Ramsey. The Lady Braves scored its second on a sacrifice fly by sophomore Daijah Richardson.
 
Though, the Cardinals came back with a pair of big innings. They scored three in the third and four in the fifth to take a large 8-2 lead.
 
It looked all but over until the Lady Braves got the bats going in the bottom of the fifth. It started with a single to left by senior Keelee Huff, followed by an error to put two on with no outs. An RBI groundout by Richardson made it 8-3. Ramirez followed with an RBI double to center to cut it to 8-4.
 
Alcorn kept the inning going with an RBI single to left by Arnold to trim it to 8-5. The Lady Braves loaded up the bases with one out and trailed just 8-6 on a fielding error, which scored Arnold. Alcorn still had two runners on with two outs, but UIW was able to get out of it with a ground out.
 
The Lady Braves had another chance to get even closer in the bottom of the sixth inning after sophomore Akaisha Lewis reached on an error and Ramirez singled to center, but with two outs the Cardinals got a strikeout to avoid any damage.
 
Ramirez turned in a 2-for-3 day at the plate with a walk and RBI. McKinney also submitted a two-hit performance.
 
Sophomore Brenn Ursin got the start and lasted 4.2 innings. Freshman Kiri Parker threw the final 2.1 frames and did not allow a run.
 
The Lady Braves will be back at it on Wednesday when they travel to Southern Miss for the rescheduled doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m.
 
#FearTheBrave