BATON ROUGE, La. — The Southern University softball team picked up two wins over Grambling on Saturday at Lady Jaguar Field, taking game two 7–1 before rallying for a dramatic 6–5 walk-off victory in game three.
Game One – Southern 7, Grambling 1
Southern used a big third inning and strong relief pitching to secure a 7–1 win in the first game of the doubleheader.
After Grambling (7-14, 1-5) struck first with a solo home run in the top of the third, Southern responded immediately in the bottom half of the inning.
Ava Wallace tied the game with an RBI double before
Laila Clark followed with an RBI single to give the Jaguars (13-10, 3-3) the lead.
Abigail Mitchell added another RBI with a double, and
Izabell Astran capped the four-run frame with a sacrifice fly to push Southern ahead 4–1.
The Jaguars added to their lead in the fifth inning.
Asia George tripled down the right-field line and scored on an RBI single by Wallace. Mitchell delivered her second RBI double of the game later in the inning, and
Prestaisha White drew a bases-loaded walk to extend the lead to 7–1.
Mitchell finished with two doubles and two RBIs while Wallace also collected two hits and two RBIs. Southern totaled 11 hits in the contest.
In the circle,
Jordynn Jennings earned the win after throwing four shutout innings in relief and allowing no hits with two strikeouts.
Hayley Hinds started the game and gave up one run over three innings.
Game Two – Southern 6, Grambling 5 (9 innings)
Southern rallied late to defeat Grambling 6–5 in a nine-inning thriller to complete the sweep.
Grambling built a 3–0 lead through the first four innings before Southern got on the board in the fifth. Jaciee Massey singled and
Calli Schell walked to set the table for Clark, who drove both runners home with a two-run double to left field to cut the deficit to 3–2.
The Jaguars tied the game in the seventh inning. Schell singled and
Asia George walked before both eventually scored during a fielder's choice play and a Grambling error to even the score at 4–4.
Grambling briefly regained the lead in the top of the ninth when Ashunte Specks hit a solo home run to left field to make it 5–4.
Southern answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning. Schell again sparked the rally with a bunt single, and George reached on an error before
Ava Wallace was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Clark delivered once more, lining a two-run single to left field to score Schell and George and give the Jaguars the walk-off win.
Clark led the offense with two hits and four RBIs while Schell scored three runs and reached base four times.
Aaliyah Zabala earned the win in relief after pitching the final two innings.
Chakirrious Parker started the game and allowed three runs over five innings before
Jordynn Jennings worked two innings out of the bullpen.
UP NEXT
Southern host Louisiana Christian in a doubleheader on Tuesday March 17 starting at 1 p.m.
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