MONTGOMERY, Ala. – After opening the season on the road with five games in the three days, the defending SWAC champion Alabama State University softball team returns home to start the home portion of their schedule with three games in three days as part of the Black & Gold Tournament to be held at Barbara Williams Softball Complex.
 
Alabama State (1-4) will host Akron, Fort Wayne and UT-Martin this weekend with games beginning on Friday at 12 noon, and the last game scheduled to start on Sunday at 12:30 pm.
 
The Lady Hornets enter the weekend having split on the final day of the Sand Dollar Classic, defeating Central Arkansas before losing to South Alabama. Alabama State finished the weekend hitting .274 as a team with seven extra-base hits, including four home runs (one more than their opponents). The Lady Hornets also recorded three stolen bases and slugged .407 over the course of the three days.
 
Senior Perry Hindi, the SWAC Player of the Week, was chosen as a member of the All-Tournament Team after hitting .500 over the weekend which included a pair of home runs. She finished with three extra base hits, and slugged 1.083 over the course of the weekend – splitting time at first base and handling some of the catching duties. Sophomore Charlene Castro finished the weekend hitting .462 with six hits in 13 official at-bats, hitting her first home run of the season.
 
As a team, 15 different position players saw action for Alabama State over the weekend with 12 of those players picking up a hit (seven of those with multiple hits).
 
Freshman Vanessa Bradford (1-2) picked up her first collegiate victory over the weekend, defeating Central Arkansas. Over the course of five games, the freshman saw action in four (starting three) and finished the weekend with a 5.25 earned run average. The freshman logged 13.1 innings and allowed just 10 earned runs to score, while striking out nine. Meanwhile, freshman Justine Jean (0-1) logged 11.1 innings over the weekend in four appearances (one start), while Castro recorded a save in a pair of appearances.
 
The Lady Hornets will face UT-Martin in their first game, with first pitch scheduled for 2:30 pm. UT-Martin (4-0) enters the weekend on a four-game win streak, including a pair of run-rule victories. The Skyhawks outscored their opponents 33-7 in those four games last week, and hit .359 as a team with eight extra-base hits. Alli Fulcher leads UT-Martin in hitting (in five or more plate appearances), hitting .556 with a pair of runs batted in and stolen bases. Aeron Smith and Renate Meckl each have recorded extra base hits for UT-Martin on the season.
 
Alyss VanLandingham (1-0) leads UT-Martin in the circle, not allowing a run in a complete game no-hitter over the weekend and allowing just two runners to reach base. Sara Hooten (1-0) went four innings and allowed just two hits, while Brooke Kennedy (2-0) went 14 innings and allowed seven runs.
 
The Lady Hornets will also face Akron (1-4) on the opening night of the tournament at  5 pm, with the Zips entering the tournament on a two-game losing streak. Ashley Sims leads Akron in hitting at .533 with eight hits in 15 at-bats, while Carley Childress (.455) and Alyssa Nicholas (.444) are each over .400 for the year, with Nicholas hitting the lone home run of the season for Akron.

In the circle, three pitchers have seen action for Akron with Kelly Hysong (0-2) recording a 4.94 earned run average; while Lexie Handley (1-2) has logged 14.2 innings and a 5.73 earned run average, while striking out 14.
 
After three games on Saturday featuring three of the four teams, Alabama State returns to action Sunday afternoon at 12:30 pm to close the tournament against Fort Wayne (0-4). The Mastadons are led by Amber Davis at the plate with a .364 batting average in four games, finishing the opening week of games with a double and run batted in. Sydney Windlan is hitting .308 with four hits in 14 official at-bats.
 
Olivia White (0-1) leads Fort Wayne in the circle, logging nine innings and a 5.44 earned run average, while striking out seven. Bailey Benefiel (0-2) has recorded a 591 earned run average in 10.2 innings pitched, while striking out seven.

The tournament begins with three games on Friday beginning with UT-Martin and Akron at 12 noon, followed by Alabama State facing UT-Martin at 2:30. The final game of the opening day will feature Alabama State and Akron at 5:00 pm. The tournament continues on Saturday beginning with Fort Wayne facing UT-Martin at 11:00 am, followed by UT-Martin and Akron at 1:30 pm. The final game of the second day (Saturday) will feature Fort Wayne and Akron at 4:00 pm. The tournament concludes Sunday with Fort Wayne and Akron playing at 10 am, followed by Alabama State and Fort Wayne at 12:30 pm to conclude the tournament.
 
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