LORMAN, Miss. – Alcorn and Arkansas-Pine Bluff played three games – sort of – Friday afternoon at Alcorn Softball Complex in Lorman, Mississippi. UAPB claimed the day's opening game 6-4, which was the finale of a three-game series with the Braves as the host team. Then, Alcorn held on for a dramatic 7-6 win in nine innings in a continuation of a game delayed due to darkness and weather back on March 6, in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Afterwards, the team's finished the original game three of the series from Pine Bluff, Arkansas, back in March with UAPB serving as the home team in Lorman, and the Golden Lions claiming an 8-6 win.
Mixed in with all of that, Alcorn Softball celebrated "Senior Appreciation Day" saying thank you to
Yahnya Acevedo,
Jamyiyah Cotten,
Ka'Miya Dillon,
Mariah Morgan and student assistant
Ryan Thompson.
GAME ONE: UAPB 6, ALCORN 4
Arkansas-Pine Bluff scored five runs in the top of the second inning Friday afternoon and held on for a 6-4 Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Softball victory over Alcorn at the Alcorn Softball Complex in Lorman, Mississippi. The win allowed the visiting Golden Lions to claim the series win.
Lyric Perry got the Golden Lions on the board with a solo home run – her second of the series – to center field to open the second-inning outburst. The Golden Lions then sent five straight batters to the plate as Janiah Wilson laced a two-run triple to right field, Ryen Gaddis drove her home with a single to left, and Angelina Rivas capped the frame with an RBI double to left-center, pushing UAPB's lead to 5-0.
Alcorn (14-33, 2-19 SWAC) answered in the bottom half of the inning when pitcher
Chiara Olison drove in two runs with a single to shortstop, scoring
Olivia Miller and
Mariah Morgan to cut the deficit to 5-2.
UAPB (13-27, 6-12 SWAC) tacked on another run in the third on an Ariana Gonzalez single shot back up the middle that scored Danika Bryant.
The host Braves trimmed it to 6-4 in the bottom-half of the frame when
Rajayla McBride singled to right and drove in two on a play in the form of
Yahnya Acevedo and
Jamyiyah Cotten.
That, however, would be as close as the Purple and Gold would get.
Traelen Humphrey, who relieved Golden Lions starting pitcher Kaydrian Fields in the third, was nothing short of dominant the rest of the way.
The right-hander worked the final 4.1 innings, scattering just three hits to earn the win and improve to 1-1 on the season.
Fields allowed seven hits and four runs in 2.2 innings before being pulled, but her relief did the heavy lifting to preserve the result.
For Alcorn, Olison absorbed the loss, falling to 8-19 on the year after surrendering six runs on eight hits in three innings. Miller came on in relief and was sharp, allowing just two hits with a strikeout over the final four frames.
However, the damage had already been done.
Wilson led UAPB offensively, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk, a triple and two RBIs. Gaddis added a 2-for-3 effort with an RBI and a double, while Rheagan Montgomery went 2-for-4 at the dish.
Alcorn got a multi-hit afternoon from McBride,
Mariah Morgan and Acevedo, each tallying a pair of hits, but the Braves stranded 10 runners and couldn't capitalize late with multiple baserunners in the sixth and seventh innings.
GAME TWO: UAPB 8, ALCORN 6
Arkansas-Pine Bluff sent nine batters to the plate in a four-run first inning and never trailed, holding off a late Alcorn rally to claim an 8-6 victory Friday afternoon and complete a doubleheader sweep at the Alcorn Softball Complex. UAPB was the home team on the scoreboard as the game was a remake of a game originally scheduled last month in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.
Arkansas-Pine Bluff (14-28, 7-13) wasted no time against starter
Alainah Felton, who didn't record an out in the opening frame.
Janiah Wilson led off with a single and Ryen Gaddis drew a walk before Alyssa Jones singled through the middle to score Wilson. Danika Bryant followed with another single up the middle, plating Gaddis. Felton was then pulled, but the damage continued.
Shortstop Lyric Perry, the offensive catalyst for the Golden Lions across the two series, drew an intentional walk to load the bases, and Rheagan Montgomery reached on a fielding error by shortstop
Olivia Miller that allowed two more runs to score, putting UAPB ahead 4-0 early-on.
The Golden Lions continued to pile on in each of the third and fourth innings, respectively.
Montgomery doubled to left-center in the third to score Perry, making it 5-0, and a wild pitch in the fourth brought home Kamea Seunarine to push the lead to six.
Heidi Price was in control through the first five innings for the visitors in the pitcher's circle, working out of trouble and allowing just two runs on six hits before being lifted with one out in the sixth. She earned the win to improve to 3-8 on the year.
Alcorn (15-34, 3-20 SWAC) finally broke through in the sixth when
Jamyiyah Cotten grounded into a run-scoring fielder's choice and
Yahnya Acevedo singled through the middle to score
Ka'Miya Dillon, trimming the deficit to 6-2.
But UAPB answered immediately.
Pinch hitter Kaydrian Fields delivered the back-breaker in the bottom of the sixth, lining a two-run single up the middle to score Wilson and Gaddis and push the lead back to 8-2.
The Braves made things interesting in the seventh, scoring four times on five hits.
Felton doubled down the left-field line to score
Olivia Miller.
Karmen Bernard followed with an RBI double to left. And Dillon singled to score Bernard before Acevedo's bunt single plated the final run of the inning to make it 8-6.
Traelen Humphrey came on to close it out and earned her second save of the season out of the bullpen for the Golden Lions.
Dillon paced Alcorn's offense, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored. Bernard added a 2-for-3 effort with a double, an RBI and two runs. And in her final game as a Brave, it was left fielder Acevedo registering a 2-for-4 effort with two RBIs.
Felton went 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI at the plate despite the rough outing in the circle.
For UAPB, Wilson and Gaddis each scored twice, and Montgomery finished 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Fields' pinch-hit single in the sixth proved to be the decisive blow.
Alcorn's
Olivia Miller struggled in relief, issuing four wild pitches and walking four over three innings of work.
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