HAMMOND, La. – Alabama A&M (1-2, 0-0 SWAC) would hold leads in both games on the final day of the Lion Classic before falling 7-3 to Nicholls State (1-1, 0-0 OVC) and 12-5 to Southeastern Louisiana (3-0, 0-0 Southland) in a pair of NCAA Division I softball games on Saturday, February 12.
GAME 1: Nicholls State 7, Alabama A&M 3
The teams would battle through two scoreless innings before the Bulldogs put together a three-run rally consisting of a single, two walks, a groundout and a sacrifice bunt that led to a fielding error.
Sophomore outfielder
Iyanna Canada (Oakman, Ala.) grounded out to short to bring home the first run while freshman third baseman
Faith Cross (Pulaski, Tenn.) laid down the sac bunt and freshman outfielder
Tatianna Roman (Cypress, Calif.) and sophomore outfielder
Lauryn Gross (Huntsville Ala.) came around to score for a 3-0 lead.
It would stay that way until the bottom of the fourth as Melise Gossen drove a ball over the right field fence to cut the deficit to two. That would be a margin that they would narrow and overtake in the fifth as they scored on a single to second by Danielle Duplay before Lulu Vazaquez tripled home the tying run.
Gossen would make another appearance with an RBI double to left center and Syndee Shelton belted a two-run shot to make it 6-3. A single up the middle by Julia Kramer the brought the score to the eventual final margin of 7-3.
Gossen went 3-for-3 with a run, double, homerun and two RBIs and Shelton was 2-for-3 with two RBIs, and a run on a longball to pace the Colonels. Duplay went 2-for-3 with a run and RBI and Kramer was 2-for-3 with an RBI to round out the top performances at the plate. Brittany Turner threw five innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out three to improve to 1-1 on the year.
Canada and Cross would lead the Bulldogs with and RBI apiece while sophomore catcher
Imani Mathis (Elk Grove, Calif.), senior first baseman
Alyssa Lopez (San Leandro, Calif.) and freshman outfielder
Da'Nijah Wade (Columbia, Tenn.) each had a hit. The latter added a run as did Gross and Roman while freshman pitcher
Esperanza Coe (Beaumont, Calif.) took the loss to drop to 1-1 on the young season.
GAME 2: Southeastern Louisiana 12, Alabama A&M 5
A&M would get out to a fast start against a solid Southeastern Louisiana squad as they scored four in the first on four hits and an error. Coe and Lopez would deliver RBI singles while senior first baseman
Rachael McKinney (Birmingham, Ala.) drove home one on a fielder's choice and another came home on a fielding error for a 4-0 lead through a half inning.
Things would change with SELA's half of the inning, however, as they pounded out five runs on four hits, highlighted by two-RBI doubles from Madisen Blackford and Maddie Watson. The Bulldogs would battle back with a run in the top of the second on a wild pitch to tie it up at 5-5.
That, however, would be all they would get as the Lions, after being held in check for the next two innings, would erupt for four runs on five hits in the bottom of the fourth to make it 9-5. The big blow that inning would be another two-RBI double, this one from Madison Rayner.
From there they would go on to add three more runs on four hits and an error in the home half of the fifth and close out the 12-5 victory two innings later.
Blackford led the way for Southeastern with a 3-for-4 day that included three RBIS and a pair of runs scored while Rayner was 2-for-3 with a pair of RBIs and two runs. Lexi Johnson and Watson each added two RBIs and Aeriyl Mass went 2-for-5 with two runs and Cam Goodman was 3-for-4 with a pair of scores. MC Comeaux threw three scoreless innings of relief and struck out four to pick up the win and move to 1-0.
For A&M it would be Coe, Lopez and McKinney with an RBI apiece and junior shortstop
Venice Sanders with a 2-for-4 day that also saw her cross home plate. Gross added two walks and a run and Wade notched a triple. In the circle, Coe went 4.1 innings and dropped to 1-2.
UP NEXT
The Bulldogs are back in action next week as they head to the 2022 River City Classic for five games from February 18-20. Hosted by Alcorn State, A&M will face them and North Alabama twice along with a Sunday meeting with Eastern Illinois.
