April 20, 2007

Final Stats

Montgomery, Ala. - In a key Southwestern Athletic Conference match up, the Alabama State (ASU) softball team held off Alcorn State 2-1 Friday afternoon. The win kept the Lady Hornets' SWAC tournament hopes alive.

"It was a game we had to have," said ASU head coach Telma O'Neal-Hall. "As a team, we talked about how hard we had worked to put ourselves in this position. And now, we have to take advantage of this opportunity."

Alabama State jumped out to an early lead with two runs in the first. Cami Cunningham singled with two outs to ignite the rally. April O'Neal followed with a single of her own. After Destinee Sanchez walked, Whitney Valentine stroked a RBI single scoring Cunningham. O'Neal later stole home for the second run.

From there it was a pitching duel as the Lady Hornets' Valentine and Alcorn's Tynette Sims completely dominated. Alcorn was able to scratch out a run on three singles in the top of the fifth to pull within one.

Sanchez took the mound for the sixth and seventh innings, holding Alcorn scoreless and securing the win for the Lady Hornets.

"It was a total team effort," Coach O'Neal-Hall said. "But now we have to move on and take care of business tomorrow."

The teams will play a doubleheader on Saturday. First pitch is 2 p.m. at Lagoon Park. Admission is free.