ATLANTA – The Alabama State University softball team avenged an earlier season defeat, and won their first postseason contest in school history, defeating the University of Tennessee-Martin 3-0 on the second day of the Postseason NISC at Bob Heck Field.
Alabama State (22-34) and UT-Martin (39-20) battled through six scoreless innings with each team having their opportunities, combining to leave 13 runners on base. The Skyhawks had a run taken off the scoreboard in the third inning when Carly Gonzalez was called for leaving early moments before scoring on a double by Lauren Myers, however, the run was taken off the board and UT-Martin did not threaten for the remainder of the inning.
The Lady Hornets took advantage of the opportunity to get on the board in the top of the seventh inning.
Charlene Castro led off the inning with a single to left, and was lifted for pinch runner
Amira James. After a pair of bunt attempts that went foul,
Perry Hindi laced a double to center to push James to third with no outs. The next batter in the order,
Alexia Boggess, delivered with a two-run single to put the Lady Hornets up 2-0. The senior would advance to third and score on a
Laura Aguilar single for the final margin.
Vanessa Bradford (12-13) got the win with the complete game effort, scattering four hits in her first shutout of the season. She allowed four walks and struck out two in the victory.
Aguilar led Alabama State at the plate, finishing 2-for-4 with a run scored; while Castro finished 2-for-3. Boggess finished 1-for-2 with a pair of runs scored, for the Lady Hornets who were held to seven hits by UT-Martin starter Sara Hooten (8-5).
The win avenged an earlier season to loss to the Skyhawks 14-6 in Montgomery, and moves Alabama State into a rematch with Western Kentucky tonight at 7 pm (est) – a rematch of the opening contest of the regional won by the Hilltoppers.
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