Game 1 Boxscore
Game 2 Boxscore

IRONDALE, Ala. -- The Alabama State University softball team fought off elimination Saturday afternoon with a 5-4 victory over Southern before being eliminated by defending champion Mississippi Valley State 8-0 in the semifinals of the 2010 Southwestern Athletic Conference Championship played at Shea Brothers Softball Complex.

ASU ends the 2010 season with a final record of 16-27. The Lady Hornets, who entered the SWAC Championship as the No.3-seed from the Eastern Division, posted a 2-2 mark in the tournament after defeating Southern twice but suffering a pair of losses to the top-seeded Delta Devilettes.

In Saturday's opening game with Southern, Mercedes Frazier nearly single-handedly carried the Lady Hornets to victory. Frazier clubbed a pair of homeruns, drove in four runs and scored three times including the game-winning run in extra innings.

ASU also got a solid pitching performance from the duo of Amanda Gracia and Destinee Sanchez. Gracia started the game scattering nine hits over six innings of work followed by two perfect innings of relief from Sanchez.

Southern scored a run in the top of the first to grab an early lead before Bama State finally got on the board in the fourth with a solo homerun from Frazier.

The Lady Jaguars added three more runs in the top of the sixth but ASU answered with a three-run blast from Frazier in the bottom of the frame to knot the score at 4-4. The Lady Hornets attempted to end the game in the seventh as Ayesha Famble laced a two-out triple into the right field corner and was thrown out trying to stretch for home.

After holding SU scoreless in the top of the eighth, Frazier led off for ASU and reached base following an error by the Southern shortstop. She moved to second on a groundout and then scored the game-winning run when Ja'Vonna Grimsley's grounder was booted by the Lady Jaguars' infield.

Mississippi Valley State broke open a pitcher's duel with Bama State scoring eight runs in the final two innings en route to the shutout victory.

The two squads traded zeroes through the first four innings before MVSU plated a pair of runs in the fifth ending the scoreless play. The Devilettes added six more runs in the sixth to reach the final margin.

The SWAC Championship concludes Sunday with the championship game at 1 p.m. on ESPNU. Mississippi Valley will meet the winner of the Sunday morning's match-up between Alcorn State and Grambling State in the title contest.
**Check back for full recap of Saturday's games**