LORMAN, Miss. – The Alcorn State University softball program will play on campus for the first time in 720 days this weekend when it battles Alabama A&M in a single game Friday and a doubleheader Saturday.
The Lady Braves (3-12, 1-3 SWAC) will honor its three fifth-year seniors –
Ambria Dorsey,
Alexsis Ramirez and
Brittney Triplett – at 12:25 p.m. prior to Saturday's doubleheader.
Dorsey, a graduate student from Phoenix, Arizona, is one of the most decorated pitchers in program history as she is fourth in career strikeouts (188), fifth for pitching starts (54), has pitched the sixth-most innings (325.2) and is eighth on the wins leaderboard (14). The right-hander won SWAC Pitcher of the Week on April 9, 2018 and was ranked in the NCAA's top-30 for saves in 2019 with four.
Ramirez, also from Phoenix, has contributed both in the circle and at the dish for Coach Rankin since transferring from Paradise Valley Community College before the 2019 campaign. In her two-and-a-half year tenure, she has a batting average of .303 (17-for-56) with seven RBI and seven walks to go along with 22 innings pitched on the mound with eight punchouts.
Triplett, a native of Brandon, Mississippi, has been the table setter at the top of the lineup on a consistent basis since coming over from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. She has started 76 of her 79 games in a Lady Braves uniform, primarily in the leadoff spot, earning SWAC Hitter of the Week honors on February 18, 2019 and swiping 18 bases on 19 attempts (.947) in that span.
Scouting the Alabama A&M Lady Bulldogs (6-10, 3-3 SWAC)
AAMU is coming in off a two-game skid following a series loss to Prairie View but took 2-of-3 from Southern at home the weekend before.
The Lady Bulldogs own the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the conference at 1.50, hit the most home runs per game (0.62) and is the runner-up for batting average (.251), scoring (3.88) and ERA (5.47).
Haleigh Winter is the toughest woman to strikeout in the NCAA's Division I, having yet went down on three strikes over 34 plate appearances.
The ladies from Huntsville have two student-athletes atop the SWAC leaderboards as Esperanza Coe has the highest homers per game average at 0.27 (4 total) while Taylor Woods excels at grabbing the base 90 feet away from home with a league leading 0.12 triples a contest. Cox also places fourth in slugging percentage in the conference (.614).
In 90 meetings all-time between the two programs, Alabama A&M holds a 59-31 advantage over Alcorn.
#FearTheBrave
