Morgan Powers Alcorn to Midweek Sweep

LORMAN, Miss. – Mariah Morgan hit her first home run of the season Tuesday afternoon in helping Alcorn Softball to a doubleheader sweep of Mississippi Valley State in nonconference action at Alcorn Softball Complex in Lorman, Mississippi. The Braves took game one 6-0, and grabbed the nightcap by a 5-1 decision to complete the sweep.
 
GAME ONE: ALCORN 6, MVSU 0
Alainah Felton tossed a complete-game shutout and Alcorn erupted for five runs in the first inning Tuesday as the Braves defeated visiting Mississippi Valley State 6-0 in the first game of a nonconference doubleheader between two Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) opponents at Alcorn Softball Complex in Lorman, Mississippi.
 
Felton, who improved to 2-5 on the season, was dominant from start to finish, scattering three hits over seven innings while striking out five and walking three. The Delta Devilettes managed just three hits on the afternoon and never seriously threatened to score, leaving eight runners on base.
 
Alcorn (10-18) wasted no time doing damage.
 
Sanai Salvant, The Alcorn designated player, led off the home-half of the first inning with a triple to right center and scored on a sacrifice fly by Olivia Miller. Two batters later, catcher Paris Thompson singled to right center to plate Yahnya Acevedo, who had drawn a walk. Pitcher Alainah Felton helped her own cause with a double to left field that crossed Thompson, and Jamyiyah Cotten followed with a run-scoring single to center.
 
Chiara Olison capped the five-run frame with a RBI single that brought in Cotten, giving the Braves an early 5-0 advantage.
 
Cotten added to the lead in the third inning, singling to center to score Mariah Morgan, who had opened the frame with a triple to right center.
 
Cotten finished 2-for-3 with two RBIs and a stolen base, while Salvant went 2-for-3 with a triple, a stolen base and a run scored. Morgan was 1-for-3 with a triple and a run scored, and Felton went 1-for-3 at the plate as well, contributing a double and an RBI to complement her dominant pitching performance.
 
Mississippi Valley State starter Ashtyn Clark (1-11) absorbed the loss, allowing six runs on eight hits over six innings. She did not record a strikeout.
 
The Delta Devilettes (1-20) had little answer for Felton, who retired the side in order in the fourth and sixth innings and did not allow a runner to reach scoring position until Jamiyah Gary's two-out double in the seventh – by which point the outcome was long decided.
 
Alcorn went 6-for-8 with runners in scoring position and sent 29 batters to the plate against Clark.
 
GAME TWO: ALCORN 5, MVSU 1
Mariah Morgan blasted a two-run home run – her first of the campaign – in the first inning and Chiara Olison pitched a complete-game gem as Alcorn Softball defeated Mississippi Valley State 5-1 Tuesday afternoon to complete a doubleheader sweep at Alcorn Softball Complex in Lorman, Mississippi.
 
Morgan, who went 2-for-3 in the contest, did the bulk of her damage early. After left fielder Yahnya Acevedo scored on a throwing error by Delta Devilettes' catcher Kelsey Kaluna-Thomas following a double steal, Morgan stepped to the plate and launched a two-run shot to center field, giving the Braves a 3-0 lead after one inning in the books. She also tripled to right center in the third inning and finished with two RBIs – allowing her two (2) triples across both games on the day.
 
Olison (7-10) was nearly untouchable in the circle, throwing all seven innings while allowing just six hits and striking out a pair. The lone run she surrendered in the sixth was unearned, the result of an error charged to the Alcorn infield. Olison threw just 67 pitches and did not issue a single free pass.
 
Alcorn (11-18) tacked on an insurance run in the home-half of the second when centerfielder Rajayla McBride doubled and eventually scored on a throwing error, as the Braves eventually added a fifth run in the sixth on a walk by pinch hitter Adriyana Ruffin that plated Cotten, who had singled to open the frame.
 
Cotten, Ruffin, McBride, Acevedo and Makayla Lindsey each had a hit in the sixth-inning rally.
 
Acevedo finished 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, and McBride went 1-for-3 with a double. Ruffin, who entered as a pinch hitter for Olivia Miller in the second inning, went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a walk.
 
Mississippi Valley State starter Madison Bruce (0-9) took the loss, surrendering five runs (three earned) on 11 hits over six innings. She struck out four.
 
Sheridan Kynard went 3-for-3 for the Delta Devilettes (1-21), accounting for half of the team's six hits. As a unit, MVSU committed three errors and was held scoreless on the day until the sixth inning.
 
With the sweep, Alcorn won both ends of a twin bill on its home field to move to 11-18 on the season.
 
The Braves return to SWAC play on the weekend when traveling to Southern (La.) for a three-game series in baton Rouge, Louisiana. The series begins with a single game on Friday, March 27, at 4 p.m., followed by a Saturday doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.
 
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