MONTGOMERY, Ala. – The Alabama State University softball team faced elimination in the first contest of the day Friday at the Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) Tournament, but used three home runs in the third inning to pull away from Prairie View A&M 10-6 at the Barbara Williams Softball Complex.
 
Valerie Centeno hit her first home run of the tournament to start the power barrage in the third inning for Alabama State (18-32), putting the Lady Hornets up 2-0 in the contest. Perry Hindi followed two batters later with a two-run shot that scored Kendall Core to put the Lady Hornets up 4-0; before Amira James went back-to-back and hit her second home run in as many days for Alabama State to give the Lady Hornets a 5-0 lead.
 
After Prairie View A&M (20-28) scored a pair of runs in the fourth to trim the deficit to 5-2, Alabama State came right back to score a pair of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning to extend the lead back to five at 7-2. Brittney Wilson led off the inning with a single before stealing second, and was moved to third when Centeno grounded out for the first out. She later scored on a Core sacrifice fly, before Alexia Boggess singled through the left side to score Perry Hindi for the final run of the inning.
 
Prairie View A&M closed the gap to one at 7-6 in the fifth inning, rallying for four runs in the inning before Vanessa Bradford came out the bullpen to end the rally with the bases loaded.
 
Alabama State rallied in the fifth inning for three insurance runs for the final margin. Centeno led off the inning with her third hit of the day, a single up the middle, before Core singled to left scoring Centeno on an errant throw to put Alabama State up 8-6. Core would score one batter later when Hindi doubled off the left field fence to push the Lady Hornets lead to 9-6, before Boggess flied out to right to score Hindi for the final margin.
 
Justine Jean (6-12) picked up the win, working five innings and allowing six runs (no earned runs) off of six hits while striking out four. Bradford recorded her first career save, working two innings and allowing just one hit while striking out one.
 
James finished 3-for-3 for the Lady Hornets, while Centeno finished 3-for-4 with a home run and her seventh triple of the season. Hindi finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored and three runs batted in, while Boggess finished 2-for-3 and Core 2-for-2 (both finishing with a pair of RBI).
 
Alabama State will face the winner of the Arkansas-Pine Bluff and Alabama A&M (game 10) contest later today at 4:30 pm at the Barbara Williams Softball Complex.
  
For more information on Alabama State University athletics, follow us on Twitter @BamaStateSports and like us on Facebook. For more information on Alabama State softball, follow us on Twitter @BamaStateSB.