Lady Braves Come Up Short against UT-Martin, Mississippi State

STARKVILLE, Miss. – The Alcorn State University softball program fell to UT-Martin 8-2 and Mississippi State 8-1 on day two of the Alex Wilcox Memorial on Saturday at Nusz Park.
 
"Tonight was a better effort. This morning had a few good things, but we had a better effort this evening. Mississippi State is good! Legit," Alcorn head coach Josef Rankin said.
 
The day started on a high-note as junior Amari Ramsey blasted a two-run homer in the first inning against the Skyhawks. It was the 10th of her career, which moved her into a tie for fourth all-time in school history. Ramsey knocked a hit in each game today and is up to 95 in her career.
 
Senior Simone McKinney went a combined 3-for-7 over the two games.
 
In game one, Ramsey's two-run bomb put Alcorn up 2-0 in the first inning. It scored junior Malea Dickerson who reached on with a two-out single to left.
 
UTM got one back in the bottom of the first after a leadoff double came around to score after a sacrifice fly. The Skyhawks tied it 2-2 in the second after a pair of defensive miscues.
 
The game remained even at 2-2 until the fourth inning when UTM broke it open with five runs on six hits to jump ahead 7-2.
 
Sophomore Brenn Ursin got the start and lasted 3.2 innings before freshman Kiri Parker tossed the final 2.1 frames in relief.
 
In game two, Alcorn's run came in the fourth inning. It began with a leadoff double by Ramsey. She advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a passed ball.
 
MSU got on the board early with a two-run homer by Fa Leilua in the first inning. The Bulldogs scored two more in the second to go up 4-0 and one in the third, fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
 
"I still do not know how Fa hit that ball that far. That's a drop ball in that she got some serious lift on," Rankin said. "I liked our energy throughout the game. We faced four different pitchers who spun it well. Coach T-Brat [Tyler Bratton] does an amazing job with their hitting."
 
The Lady Braves recorded five hits in the game, including a pair from senior Alexsis Ramirez.
 
Senior Ambria Dorsey threw 5.0 innings and struck out six. Parker came out of the bullpen once again and pitched an inning.
 
"I thought Ambria battled against a very good hitting team. Kiri did well coming in as well. We had some at-bats offensively that were tough.Some of our hitters did a great job of fouling off pitches and extending at-bats," Rankin said.
 
Alcorn and MSU will rematch Sunday at 12:30 p.m. in the tournament finale. The game will be streamed for free on the SEC Network Plus or ESPN3.
 
"We have another opportunity tomorrow and we just need to go compete," Rankin said.
 
#FearTheBrave