HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – Alabama A&M (9-17, 6-10 SWAC) used a four-run second inning and allowed just five hits the entire game as they dropped Mississippi Valley State (4-19, 3-10 SWAC) by a 4-3 score in an NCAA Division I softball game on Friday, April 30.
Following a scoreless first inning the Bulldogs woke up the bats for one inning as they notched four of their six hits on the game to plate four runs and go up 4-0. That offensive outburst would feature a leadoff single followed by a walk and then an RBI single by freshman pitcher
Esperanza Coe (Beaumont, Calif.) to make it 1-0.
On that same play A&M would benefit from an error that put runners on second and third and then double the lead on a wild pitch. Following a strikeout for the first out of the inning, junior second baseman
Alyssa Lopez (San Leandro, Calif.) laced a double down the left field line to make it 3-0 and then come home two batters later when senior outfielder
Ariel McAtee (Smyrna, Tenn.) popped a single to left to get to that 4-0 advantage.
That lead would not stay that way long, however, as MVSU put runners on first and third with back-to-back hits to leadoff the third. It would be second and third following a fielders' choice before the Devilettes paid it off with a sacrifice fly by Jaylon Davis to make it a three-run deficit.
Brianna Alston then doubled hard down the left field line to score the two remaining runners and get it to 4-3 before the Bulldogs got out of the jam, surviving an error before getting a groundout back to the pitcher to hold on to the lead.
It would be a key play as A&M pitching would only allow two more hits the rest of the way. The Bulldogs would get a runner to third with two outs in the fourth and Mississippi Valley State had first and third in the fifth but neither could push a run across. The Devilettes would get the leadoff runner on in the seventh but would see them get no further than first as three straight fly outs closed out Alabama A&M's 4-3 victory.
Coe would go 2-for-3 with an RBI and run scored to lead the Bulldogs while McAtee and Lopez each had an RBI, the latter driving it in on a double. Junior first baseman
Rachael McKinney (Birmingham, Ala.) rounded out the offense with a 2-for-3 day that included a double and Coe went the distance in the circle, allowing three runs and striking out three to improve to 8-7 on the year.
Alston led MVSU with a 2-for-3 day at the plate that included a pair of RBIs and a double while Davis was 1-for-3 with an RBI. Mercedes Silva pitched just 1.1 innings, allowing all four runs (three earned) to suffer the loss.
The Bulldogs wrap up the home slate with the final two games against the Delta Devilettes on Saturday, May 1. First pitch of that doubleheader is slated for 12 p.m. at Bulldog Field.
