Alcorn Splits Two Games on Opening Day

FLORENCE, Ala. – A late rally fueled a 5-2 victory for the Alcorn State University softball program over Tennessee State, but the Lady Braves dropped the night cap 9-0 to the host North Alabama on Saturday at Hilda B. Anderson Stadium.
 
Alcorn (1-1) waited until the seventh inning against TSU (0-2) before the bats got-going. The Lady Braves trailed 1-0 before striking for five runs to catapult ahead.
 
Senior Ambria Dorsey fired a complete-game to pick up the win. She moved into 10th all-time in school history in career wins with 10.
 
"Game one was a great job of hanging in there and fighting until the end. We didn't have too many opportunities before today to get on the field and face live pitching and that showed early, but we battled and found a way to put runs up," said Alcorn head coach Josef Rankin. "Mo [Malea Dickerson] did a great job of sparking the inning with a bunt base hit. Ambria was outstanding on the mound. It really wasn't my plan to extend her the whole game, but she was in a pretty good groove and we just let her go."
 
In the second game, UNA (2-0) jumped on the Lady Braves early with three runs in the first couple innings, and scored six runs in the fourth inning to pull away.
 
"We showed a lot of maturity to overcome adversity, but we still have to grow with being mentally tough enough to strap it back on and compete at a high level for game two. We played okay, but North Alabama is a very solid team and they took advantage of some pitches left out over the plate and some extra opportunities. We didn't play bad, but we didn't elevate our play to where it needed to be in order to be competitive against them," Rankin said.
 
The Lady Braves will play two more games Sunday when they rematch UNA at 11 a.m. and TSU at 1 p.m.
 
"Overall, I was very pleased with what we did today and we have a very good team. We just need to be better tomorrow and that's what we'll work to do," Rankin said.
 
Game One
The Lady Braves trailed 1-0 heading into the seventh inning when they broke through with five runs.
 
The frame started with a one-out single by junior Malea Dickerson. After junior Teona Bowles came in to pitch run, she came all the way around to score on a throwing error at third base. An infield single by junior Desirea Lindsey placed runners on the corners, and the Lady Braves took the lead 2-1 on an RBI single by senior Simone McKinney.
 
Alcorn kept it going and increased the lead to 3-1 after senior Brittney Triplett reached on a fielder's choice. A pair of wild pitches plated McKinney and Triplett to make it a 5-1 game.
 
Dorsey pitched a complete-game to earn the win. She struck out five and allowed just one earned run. Dorsey is up to 147 career strikeouts, which ranks sixth all-time in Alcorn history.
 
At the plate, McKinney and Lindsey knocked two hits apiece. Senior Keelee Huff and Dickerson also had hits in the contest.
 
The game was 0-0 in the sixth inning when TSU scored an unearned run to lead 1-0. It happened with one out and a runner on second when an error in the infield plated the go-ahead run at the time.
 
TSU was led by Patton Akers who went 2-for-4 at the plate with a run and RBI. Lauren Powell lasted 6.1 innings and struck out eight but took the loss.
 
Game Two
The Lions got on the board in their first at-bat with a two-run homer by Harley Stokes. They scored another in the second to lead 3-0 early.
 
UNA kept Alcorn's bats in-check, and broke the game open in the fourth inning with six runs.
 
Sophomore Brenn Ursin made her first career start after sitting out last year. She threw 3.1 innings. Senior Alexsis Ramirez threw the final 0.2 frames in relief.
 
UNA's Sidney Revels struck out six batters in 4.0 innings to grab the win.
 
Alcorn's lone hit came on a single by freshman Kelsey Lockridge in the fifth inning. Ramirez and sophomore Sandrea Hord drew walks in the game for Alcorn.
 
#FearTheBrave