BATON ROUGE, LA – Alcorn State softball opened its weekend road series at Southern University on Friday afternoon but fell short in a tightly contested 3-1 loss at Lady Jaguar Field. The Lady Braves (10-23, 5-14 SWAC) were held to just one hit in the game but remained competitive behind a strong pitching performance from
Ta'Niyah Fletcher and a solid defensive effort.
Southern (18-18, 9-7 SWAC) took advantage of timely hitting and two Alcorn fielding errors to build a lead midway through the contest. Alcorn's lone run came in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly by
Mariah Morgan, which brought home
Olivia Miller following a defensive miscue.
Fletcher went the distance for the Lady Braves, allowing five hits and three runs (two earned) while striking out two and walking three. Offensively,
Alainah Felton recorded Alcorn's only hit, singling to left field in the seventh inning.
GAME RECAP
First Three Innings – Southern 1, Alcorn 0
- Alcorn threatened in the top of the third with a walk by Jamyiyah Cotten, but couldn't bring her around.
- Southern broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third when a runner stole home after advancing to third on a single and a steal.
Fourth Inning – Southern 3, Alcorn 1
- Olivia Miller reached on an error and advanced to third on a groundout.
- Mariah Morgan drove her in with a sacrifice fly to right field to tie the game at 1-1.
- Southern responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning, capitalizing on another Alcorn error and RBI hits by Alissa Castaneda and Miranda Roldan.
Final Three Innings – Pitching and Defense Shine
- Fletcher kept Southern scoreless over the final two innings, retiring six of the last seven batters she faced.
- Felton broke up the no-hitter with a two-out single in the top of the seventh, but the Lady Braves couldn't extend the rally.
BY THE NUMBERS
- 1 – Alcorn recorded just one hit in the contest, a seventh-inning single by Alainah Felton.
- 2 – Mariah Morgan drove in the Lady Braves' lone run with her second sacrifice fly of the season.
- 5 – Southern was held to five hits by Fletcher, who pitched a complete game.
- 2 – Alcorn committed two errors, both of which led to unearned runs for Southern.
- 1:26 – The game was completed in just under an hour and a half in front of a crowd of 286 fans.
UP NEXT
Alcorn State (10-23, 5-14 SWAC) continues the weekend series with a doubleheader against Southern University on Saturday, April 19. First pitch for game one is set for 1 p.m. CST, with game two to follow at 3 p.m.
