HUNTSVILLE, Ala. – With the close of the 2021-22 campaign, the Alabama A&M Sports Information Office is producing a Season in Review for each of the program's 16 sports from the past year.
That series began with the fall season before progressing to the winter and spring campaigns. Each week reviews will be released on Mondays and Wednesdays until concluding with the final spring sport on Monday, July 18 and a Department Season in Review on Wednesday, July 20. Today we take a look back at the 2022 Softball season.
2021-22 Softball
Conference Affiliation: Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC)
Overall/Conference Finish: 5-of-6 (East Division)
Final National Ranking: N/A
NCAA: N/A
All-Americans/All-America: N/A
All-Region Selections: N/A
All-Conference Selections: 2:
Lauryn Gross, First-Team,
Allyson Riches, First-Team
Conference Weekly Honors: 3: Hitter of the Week:
Venice Sanders (4/6),
Allyson Riches (4/26),
Esperanza Coe (5/4)
Major Awards and Honors: N/A
2021-22 Season in Review
- Went 16-24 overall and 10-14 in SWAC play.
- Took season series at rival Alabama State, earning 12-7 win in opener on April 1 before bludgeoning Hornets 11-1 in five innings on April 2.
- Notched sweep at Tuskegee with wins of 7-5 and 10-7 on March 1.
- Swept regular season ending four-game series with Mississippi Valley State with wins of 3-1, 13-2 (5 inn.), 7-1 and 5-4 from April 29-30. Sweep kept team in contention for SWAC Tournament and was the first of its kind in 17 years. The four-game sweep was the first since 2006 against Texas Southern and the sixth overall since 2004. It was also the first four-game set since one against Southeastern Louisiana in 2016 and part of five wins in last six games to close the season.
Individual Achievements/Honors
- Freshman outfielder Allyson Riches (San Diego, Calif.) and sophomore second baseman Lauryn Gross (Huntsville, Ala.) each earned All-SWAC First-Team honors.
- Gross became just the second individual on record in the program's NCAA Division I history to earn All-SWAC primarily as a second baseman. She is the first since Tamia Barbadillo in 2018, who earned Second-Team that year, making Gross the first First-Team selection at the position (although records are incomplete from 2000-02).
- For Riches, she became just the fifth individual to earn All-SWAC honors as an outfielder, the first since 2016 (Imani Largin) and only the second player ever to do so on the First-Team. With the latter, she joins four-time All-SWAC outfielder, and two-time SWAC Player of the Year, Re'Quincia Mack (2006-09) as the only other individual to accomplish the feat.
- The two All-SWAC selections mark four straight seasons the program has had multiple honorees and six at least one selection in six of the past seven campaigns.
- Playing in 38 games, starting all but one, Riches finished with an average of .370, on-base percentage of .440, slugging of .490, 18 runs, 10 doubles, a triple and 23 RBIs. She ranked sixth in the SWAC in batting average and eighth in on-base percentage. In terms of freshman ranks she was first in average and doubles, tied for first in RBI, second in slugging and on-base and third in hits (37).
- Riches went 7-for-14 (.500) and slugged .786 while delivering four doubles, eight RBIs and three runs scored in one game against Tennessee State and a three-game series at Jackson State to earn her first career SWAC Hitter of the Week honor on April 26.
- Junior infielder Venice Sanders (Birmingham, Ala.) and sophomore designated player Esperanza Coe (Beaumont, Calif.) each added SWAC Hitter of the Week honors on April 6 and May 4, respectively.
- Gross exploded onto the scene in her first year at the NCAA Division I level, starting all 31 games she appeared in, hitting .366 (34-of-93), with an on-base percentage of .491. She also slugged .452 and had 29 runs, four doubles, two triples, 12 RBIs, 20 walks, three hit-by-pitch and was a stellar 21-of-23 on the basepaths.
- In SWAC statistical rankings, Gross was third in on-base percentage and runs, fourth in steals, fifth in walks, eighth in average, 10th in on-base/slugging and tied for 10th in triples (2).
- Gross also delivered 11 multi-hit games, four multi-RBI games and ended the season with a season-long nine-game hit and 13-game on-base streak. Also had seven games with multiple steals.
- Senior Rachael McKinney (Birmingham, Ala.) started 35 of her 36 games, hitting .302 and slugging .472 with 12 runs, nine doubles, three homeruns, 24 RBIs and 10 walks and freshman outfielder Da'Nijah Wade (Columbia, Tenn.) hit .283 (32-of-113), slugged .310 and added nine RBIs to go with 14 steals in 19 attempts on the year.
- Senior pitcher Alyssa Lopez (San Leandro, Calif.) pitched in a career-high 18 games with 11 starts, posting an ERA of 3.25 with six complete games, a .278 opposing batting average, 56 strikeouts and just two wild pitches in 79.1 innings. Went 6-7 and delivered most impressive game of her career at Florida A&M (4/16), throwing all 10.2 innings in an 11-inning game. Was the program's longest in at least 12 years, and one in which she walked just one batter and allowed only a pair of doubles among five hits.
- Freshman pitcher Paige Scott (Surrey, British Columbia, Canada) made 21 appearances, 14 of them starts, in her first collegiate season and authored a 4.60 ERA with 56 strikeouts and a .293 opposing batting average in a team-high 86.2 innings pitched.
Schedule of Season in Review Releases
Football (May 25)
Women's Cross Country (May 30)
Women's Volleyball (June 1)
Women's Soccer (June 6)
Women's Basketball (June 8)
Men's Basketball (June 13)
Men's Indoor Track & Field (June 15)
Women's Indoor Track & Field (June 20)
Bowling (June 22)
Women's Tennis (June 27)
Men's Tennis (June 29)
Men's Outdoor Track & Field (July 2)
Women's Outdoor Track & Field (July 6)
Men's Golf (July 11)
Baseball (July 13)
Softball (July 18)
Athletics (July 20)
