MONTGOMERY, Ala. – After a week spent on the road, the Alabama State University softball team returns to the friendly confines of the Barbara Williams Softball Complex to face Southern Miss in a non-conference game Tuesday night, with first pitch set for 5 pm.
Alabama State (5-17) will look to end a five-game losing streak against a team they have played twice since the arrival of head coach
Chris Steiner-Wilcoxson, but have dropped both contests. The Lady Hornets enter the contest after falling to third-ranked Auburn and dropping four games at the Leon Smith Classic.
However, when the two teams meet Tuesday night, the Lady Hornets will come in leading most of the statistical categories between the two. Alabama State leads 10 of the 12 hitting categories, while Southern Miss has better numbers in all seven categories.
The Lady Hornets also enter the mid-week contests after having scored 15 runs over the weekend with 28 hits, including eight extra-base hits. Senior third baseman
Kendall Core powered the Lady Hornets over the weekend with three homeruns of her own – all two run shots – giving her 28 on the season, and leaving her just three behind the school record. Meanwhile,
Charlene Castro hit her first homerun since opening weekend and
Valerie Centeno hit another triple over the weekend.
Perry Hindi leads Alabama State at the plate in 22 games, hitting .356 with 21 hits in 59 at-bats. The senior has scored 15 runs, and connected for seven extra base hits. She is second on the team in home runs with three and third in runs batted in with eight.
Kaylee Davis is second on the team in hitting at .333 with 10 hits in 30 at-bats.
Core has supplied the power for the Lady Hornets with seven home runs – which is tied for the league lead – and leads the SWAC in runs batted in with 24. She is also hitting .317 and slugging .700 for the season, as she has started each game this season and all 172 games of her career. Meanwhile,
Valerie Centeno (.315) and
Laura Aguilar (.286) are climbing the charts in career hitting, sitting behind Core in all-time hits at fifth and sixth.
In the circle,
Vanessa Bradford (5-5) – the reigning SWAC Pitcher of the Week – has logged 63 innings for the Lady Hornets with one complete game. She has given up 87 hits and 51 earned runs, while striking out 32 on the season. Fellow freshman Justin Jean (0-6) has recorded a 6.29 earned run average in eight starts, while Castro has recorded a pair of saves this season for Alabama State.
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