MONTGOMERY, Ala ? The University of South Alabama softball team swept a doubleheader at Alabama State Tuesday afternoon at Lagoon Park. The Jags shutout the Lady Hornets in the first game of the day, 6-0 and won an eight inning affair, 6-4 in the finale. With the two wins, USA improves to 17-10 on the season, while ASU falls to 7-14.
USA 6, ASU 0 ? Game one
The Jaguars put a pair of runs up on the board in the top half of the fourth inning to start the scoring in game one of the doubleheader.
USA led off the sixth with back-to-back singles by juniors Amanda Leggett and Ashley Elmore, who both later scored on a double by freshman Carolina Mendoza. With two outs in the inning, junior Taylor Rich singled home Mendoza, giving the Jaguars a 5-0 lead.
The top of the seventh was led off with a stand-up triple by junior Kait Chernomaz, who was later knocked in on a base hit from sophomore Corey Race before ASU pitcher Destinee Sanchez was able to get out of the inning.
The Lady Hornets only recorded two hits in the game and senior pitcher Linden Jones never faced more than four batters in an inning.
Jones (11-5) picked up the win, pitching a complete-game shutout, recording 13 strikeouts and only allowing two hits in seven innings of work. Sanchez (4-6) took the loss, giving up six runs on 13 hits, while walking one and striking out three Jag hitters. Carolina Mendoza was the hitting star in game one with a 3-for-3 performance, including two RBIs.
USA 6, ASU 4 ? Game two (Eight innings)
Elmore led off game two with a one-out solo home run to give the Jags an early lead, but Alabama State was able to tie the game in the fourth inning with a base hit by Karissa Whaley, scoring Sanchez.
With two out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the sixth, the Lady Hornets plated a run on a base hit by Nicole Zarate and later took a 3-1 lead when Mikail Knox was walked in.
Mendoza led off the seventh inning for South Alabama with a single up the middle followed by a walk to sophomore Kristen Hayes. Chernomaz then came in to pinch run for Hayes. Rich then laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runners up a base and with two outs, Elmore hit a shot to the left side to score the runners and tie the game again at three runs apiece. Elmore later scored on a single by designated player Tara Donaldson to give USA a 4-3 lead.
ASU tied the game again with a solo home run by Whitney Valentine in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings.
The Jaguars were able to get two runs across the plate in the top of the eighth inning for a 6-4 lead. USA finally went ahead for good when USA catcher Kristen Hayes grounded out to bring in Chernomaz and got an insurance run later in the inning when Rich singled home Carolina Mendoza from second.
Jones struck out the first Lady Hornet of the final inning before loading the bases. With one out, ASU’s Cami Cunningham hit a pop-up to Jones who then threw out the runner at third for a double-play to end the game.
Jones earned her second win of the day, striking out four and giving up one run on two hits in 2.1 innings of work. Valentine (2-8) suffered the loss, despite striking out 12 batters and only walking two in 7.0 innings pitched, while giving up three earned runs on seven hits.
Elmore, seeing her first real game action since returning from an injury, was a combined 3-for-6, driving in three Jaguar runs and scoring three runs of her own.
The Jags will be back in action this weekend when they travel to Murfreesboro, Tenn., to take on Middle Tennessee in a three-game Sun Belt Conference series. The series will begin with a doubleheader on Saturday, scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. and conclude with a single game on Sunday at Noon.
