HOUSTON, Texas – Alabama State University freshman Justine Jean won her second consecutive conference start, leading the Lady Hornets to an 11-5 victory over Texas Southern University to earn a split in the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) series at Memorial Park Friday evening.
 
Jean (2-6) pitched her second consecutive complete game, going seven innings and allowing five runs (four earned) off of nine hits. She walked two and struck out two, holding Texas Southern hitless until the fourth inning.
 
Alabama State (9-19, 4-1 SWAC) jumped on top of SWAC Preseason Pitcher of the Year, Lauren Rodriguez, for five runs in the second inning which started with a four-pitch walk to Perry Hindi and an Alexia Boggess single to put runners on the first and second with no outs. After a sacrifice bunt by Therese Byrne, Taylor Rosser was hit by a pitch and Laura Aguilar drew a four-pitch walk to drive in the first run.

Leading 1-0, Natalia Rivera delivered a pinch-hit single to drive in Boggess and Rosser for the 3-0 lead; before the Lady Hornets added two runs on an Aguilar single and an error on Texas Southern before the inning ended.
 
The lead grew to 7-0 in the third when Byrne singled up the middle with two outs and stole second. After a nine-pitch at-bat by Rosser ended in a walk, Aguilar doubled to left to score both runners before being caught in a rundown to end the inning.
 
The Lady Hornets added two more in the fourth for insurance to push the lead to 9-0 when Kaylee Davis singled, before advancing all the way to third on a sacrifice bunt by Valerie Centeno with one out. The Lady Hornets chased Rodriguez (3-4) in the inning and ended her night with nine runs off of seven hits. She would score on a double steal with Amy Felices, before the freshman was driven home by Hindi for the final run of the inning. Texas Southern added four runs of their own in the fourth, before Alabama State added one in the sixth when Diauna Nelson singled off the pitcher and another in the seventh on an RBI single by Hindi.
 
Hindi led the 12-hit attack by Alabama State, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and a pair of runs batted in. Centeno and Boggess each collected a pair of hits, while Aguilar drove in three. Both Davis and Rosser each scored a pair of runs for the Lady Hornets.
 
In the opener, Texas Southern used a four-run first and a three-run third off of Alabama State starter Vanessa Bradford (6-7) to earn the 8-0 victory. Bradford was saddled with the loss in a complete game effort, allowing eight runs (three earned) off of nine hits, with four strikeouts. Five different players picked up a hit in the game off of Texas Southern starter Jasmin Fulmore (3-2) who finished with a complete-game effort with four strikeouts.
 
The two teams will finish the series tomorrow afternoon at Memorial Park with first pitch scheduled for 12 noon.

For more information on Alabama State University athletics, follow us on Twitter @BamaStateSports and like us on Facebook. For more information on Alabama State University softball, follow us on Twitter @BamaStateSB.