Four Survivors Advance to Softball Semifinals

Four Survivors Advance to Softball Semifinals

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DECATUR -- The field at the Southwestern Athletic Conference softball tournament was trimmed down to four teams on Thursday, with the 2012 finalists still alive and kicking. Jackson State and Mississippi Valley State fought off elimination, while Alabama State and Prairie View remained unbeaten in the tournament. JSU faces Alabama State, while PVAM and MVSU will clash. Both games are scheduled for noon. Both JSU and MVSU must win twice to stay alive, while ASU and PVAM are just a win away from playing for the SWAC Championship on Saturday.

Mississippi Valley State 1, Texas Southern 0

In a game that featured only eight hits, Mississippi Valley outlasted Texas Southern.

MVSU duo Kimberly Spivey and Alicia Lorenz combined to hold TSU to only three hits. Spivey earned the win, allowing only one hit, striking out one and walking one, while Lorenz got the save after striking out three and allowing two hits in the last two innings.

TSU pitcher Sammantha Jimenez was also solid, tossing a five hitter, but she would get the loss.

Both Omeshia Moffett and Alexandra Roberson had two hits for MVSU. Robertson doubled twice and Moffett had one two-bagger. However, the game-winning RBI came off the bat of third baseman Brittany Lilly in the fourth inning. Moffett reached on an infield single lead off the inning. Robertson followed with a double. Then one out later, Lilly singled between second and third, driving home Moffett with the only run of the game.

Jackson State 9, Grambling 0

After being upset by Grambling in the opening round, Jackson State was dominant in the rematch. Breea Jamerson tossed a two-hit shutout and Canessa Swanson had three hits. Swanson was 3-for-3 with two doubles and two RBIs. Teammate Felicia Wilson was 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

Jamerson struck out three and walked three in the win, while GSU starter Jasmyn Dunning allowed six runs off of five hits. She struck out one and walked four.

Jackson State 10, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 1 (5 innings)

The East top seed Jackson State Lady Tigers rebounded from their first round upset loss to Grambling, beating Arkansas-Pine Bluff. UAPB (14-29) was eliminated with the loss.

The Lady Tigers had 10 hits in the game. Leftfielder Jasmine Warren led the way going 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Designated player Lauren Aikens was 2-for-2 with an RBI, while centerfielder Taylor Nave homered and had two RBI.

Breea Jamerson cruised to the win, pitching five 2-hit innings. She allowed a run, struck out two and pitched around six walks.

Lacie Sutterfield took the loss for UAPB. She pitched four innings, allowed seven runs on seven hits and issued two walks.

JSU scored three runs in the first inning. Then in the fourth, JSU plated four more runs, powered by Nave's 2-run homer. After UAPB scored a run in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Lady Tigers tacked on three more runs to put the game away.

Mississippi Valley 4, Alcorn State 2

Mississippi Valley held off a determined effort by Alcorn State to avoid elimination, while the Lady Braves (12-39) bowed out after two tough losses.

Third baseman Brittany Lilly was 3-for-3 with a double to lead MVSU. Leftfielder Natalia Covarrubias also had a pair of hits and scored two runs.

Alicia Lorenz held Alcorn to four hits in the game. She had two strikeouts and four walks. Only one of the two runs was earned.

Deanna Rancillio took the loss, yielding four runs, two earned, on nine hits. She had one strikeout.

MVSU got on the board after Alcorn blew a golden opportunity in the top of the third inning. The Lady Braves had a chance to score, loading the bases with one out. But, they came away empty. The Devilettes made them pay in the bottom of the inning, scoring twice.

The first run came on a two-out, RBI double by Yasmin Battle. Then Battle scored on a double by Alexandra Robertson, making the score 2-0.

The Devilettes added another run in the fifth inning on a ground-out by Battle.

Alcorn battled back to cut the lead to 3-2 in the sixth inning. One of the runs came on an error, while the other scored on a single by Chqueta Givens. However, MVSU plated a run on off of an error in the sixth to get some insurance.

Alabama State 9, Grambling State 4

The Alabama State offense piled up 12 hits as they advanced in the winners bracket. Meanwhile, Grambling fell into the losers bracket to face Jackson State in a rematch from the opening round.

Centerfielder Meaghan Dixon led the ASU onslaught going 3-for-4 with a double, triple and four RBIs. Four other Lady Hornets had two hits. Tamara Williams was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. She also scored three runs. Makayla Webster and Aleesa Yanez were both 2-for-4, each with an RBI. Brehanna Rodriguez was also 2-for-4 with a double.

Bridgette Simmons led Grambling going 3-for-3 with a double and two RBIs. Alyssa Fontillas was also a perfect 2-for-2 and scored a run.

Bailey Patt was the winning pitcher for ASU. She allowed four runs on eight hits, struck out one and walked one.

Angela Perez took the loss for GSU. She was tagged for nine runs, seven earned, and 12 hits. She had two strikeouts and a walk.

Prairie View 5, Texas Southern 0

Prairie View pitcher Cally Falls pitched a three-hit shutout in a win over Texas Southern. Falls struck out six and walked two, leading PVAM into the winners bracket, while TSU slipped into the elimination bracket.

Shortstop Leanna Flores and centerfielder Lexus Walker had two hits apiece to led PVAM. Flores was 2-for-4 with and RBI, while Walker was 2-for-2 with double.

The Lady Panthers got on the board in teh second inning as Rachel Rodriguez scored from third on an illegal pitch. In the fifth inning, PVAM added two runs on an RBI single by Flores and a sacrifice fly by Brenicia Woods. PVAM added some padding in the sixth inning and Falls did the rest in the circle.