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Faith Cross
Faith Cross went 3-for-4 in the Bulldogs 9-6 victory over Nicholls State to split their first two games at the Lion Classic on Friday, February 11.
0
Alabama A&M AAMU 0-1
13
Winner Southeast Missouri SEMO 1-0
Alabama A&M AAMU
0-1
0
Final
13
Southeast Missouri SEMO
1-0
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 R H E
Alabama A&M AAMU 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 2
Southeast Missouri SEMO 7 0 5 1 X 13 11 0

W: ROOK, Rachel (1-0) L: Lopez, Alyssa (0-1)

6
Nicholls NICH 0-1
9
Winner Alabama A&M AAMU 1-1
Nicholls NICH
0-1
6
Final
9
Alabama A&M AAMU
1-1
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 R H E
Nicholls NICH 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 6 11 3
Alabama A&M AAMU 0 3 0 3 3 0 X 9 6 3

W: Coe, Esperanza (1-0) L: Turner, Brittany (0-1)

Game Recap: Softball | | By Joshua J. Darling, Sports Information Director

Timely Hitting, Coe’s Pitching Fuel Alabama A&M Split On Day 1 of Lion Classic

HAMMOND, La. – Alabama A&M (1-1, 0-0 SWAC) split their first two games at the Lion Classic, falling 13-0 to a strong Southeast Missouri State (1-0, 0-0 OVC) team before pounding out a 9-6 victory over Nicholls State (0-1, 0-0 Southland) in a pair of NCAA Division I softball games on Friday, February 11.
 
GAME 1: Southeast Missouri State 13, Alabama A&M 0
The Bulldogs would face a tall order in their season opener as they took on a Southeast Missouri State (1-0, 0-0 OVC) that went 30-17 overall and 23-6 in league play to win the Ohio Valley Conference regular season a year ago.
 
The play that earned them that title was on full display early on as the Redhawks pounded out seven runs on five hits and benefitted from a pair of errors for the early 7-0 lead through the first inning. That outburst was highlighted by a two-RBI triple from Aubrie Shore.
 
As quickly as it came, that offense would go away as the Bulldogs held SEMO hitless in the second. Shore then belted a leadoff homerun to spark a five-run third inning to extend to a 12-0 advantage. Freshman outfielder Tatianna Roman (Cypress, Calif.) then broke through with a single to left in the top of the fourth but a run by the Redhawks in the bottom of the inning then pushed to the eventual final margin of 13-0.
 
Leading the way for Southeast Missouri was Shore with a 2-for-3 day that featured three RBIs, a triple, homerun and two runs scored while Jillian Anderson went 1-for-2 with, two RBIs, two walks and a pair of runs. Paige Halliwill rounded out the top offensive performers as she went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs as part of a 2-for-4 day. Rachel Rook went the distance, striking out 12 over scoreless innings with just the two walks to move to 1-0 on the year.
 
Roman would have the lone hit for A&M while freshman shortstop Serena Herbranson (Hemet, Calif.) and junior Brooklyn Wallace (Hartselle, Ala.) each drew a walk to lead the Bulldogs offense. Junior pitcher Alyssa Lopez (San Leandro, Calif.) allowed three earned runs to suffer the loss.
 
GAME 2: Alabama A&M 9, Nicholls State 6
It would be a far different result for A&M in the second game as they brought home nine runs on just six hits to post a 9-6 victory over Nicholls State (0-1, 0-0 Southland).
 
The Colonels would get on the board first as Kennedy Hebert singled to lead off the game, stole second, reached third on a wild pitch and came around to score on a fielding error for a 1-0 lead. The Bulldogs, however, would come back in the second inning as a single and fielders choice where the runner reached set the stage for sophomore outfielder Iyanna Canada (Oakman, Ala.) to tie it a 1-1.
 
Canada then promptly stole second and sophomore outfielder Lauryn Wallace singled up the middle to drive home a pair of runs for a 3-1 advantage through the first two frames. It would stay that way until the top of the fourth when NSU got back-to-back one-out doubles to bring home a run and open the floodgates to a five-hit, four-run inning that put them back ahead 5-3.
 
The Bulldogs would come right back in the home half of the inning as freshman third baseman Faith Cross (Pulaski, Tenn.) led off with a double before being erased on a fielder's choice. While that would put the brakes on the inning for a number of teams, A&M would not be one of those as they loaded the bases with two outs following a single and hit-by-pitch.
 
Proving that if you play with fire long enough you eventually get burned, NSU's defense would fail them on a hopper to second off the bat of Roman. That bauble, along with an accompanying throwing error, then allowed three runners to score to flip the script and put Alabama A&M up 6-5 at the end of the fourth.
 
Undaunted, the Colonels' bounced back with a single run in the top of the fifth but it would be the last time they would cross home plate. The rally that made that happen would consist of two walks sandwiched around a hit-by-pitch to load the bases again.
 
The walks would continue at the most inopportune time for Nicholls as freshman outfielder Allyson Riches (San Diego, Calif.) drew the free pass for a 7-6 lead and, following a second out, Gross singled to short and Roman notched another run scoring walk to extend to a 9-6 advantage.
 
NSU would apply pressure in the top of the sixth as a walk, steal and error put two on before they squandered the opportunity with a pop fly double play to end the inning. That would be as close as they would come the rest of the way as the Bulldogs locked down the three-run victory with a 1-2-3 seventh inning.
 
Lulu Vazquez went 2-for-4 with a run and RBI to lead the Colonels while Scout Blades was 2-for-3 with a RBI and a run. Melise Gossen walked twice and had an RBI and Alexa Poche', Syndee Shelton and Maya Zavala each drove home solo runs. Hebert added a 2-for-4 day with a pair of runs and Paris Lehman surrendered six runs over 3.2 innings to take the loss and fall to 0-1.
 
Gross would be the driving force behind the A&M offense with three RBIs with a 2-for-3, one run day and Riches went 1-for-3 with two runs, a walk and RBI. Roman had an RBI with a pair of free passes Cross went 3-for-4 with a double. Freshman pitcher Esperanza Coe (Beaumont, Calif.) held it down in the circle, throwing all seven innings, striking out four and allowing six earned runs to pull out the victory and move to 1-0.
 
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs return to action tomorrow when they take on Nicholls again at 11 a.m. before facing host Southeastern Louisiana at 5 p.m.
 
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