GULFPORT, Miss.- Alabama State won their second consecutive Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC) softball championship with a 8-1 victory over Alcorn State at the Gulfport Sportsplex Friday afternoon.
Alabama State (19-27), playing in their sixth consecutive conference championship game, won their third title since 2016 behind timely hitting and the arm of tournament MVP Skyler Sullivan who picked up four wins for the Lady Hornets who did not drop a game this week.
Sullivan (17-9) went the distance for the fourth straight tournament game, allowing just one run off of six hits while striking out six. She ended the weekend with 26 strikeouts for the Lady Hornets in 30 innings of work to pick up the tournament MVP honor.
Alabama State pounded out 13 hits and had a six-run third inning to go up 7-0. Alcorn scored its only run in the fourth inning. Madison Myers and Jaeda Gardner were each 3-for-3 at the plate on the day for Alabama State, while Jazmine Dodd went 2-for-4 with three runs batted in. The Hornets had edged Southern 7-6 in 11 innings in the semifinal round.
Alabama State will play at No. 3 Alabama (42-7), the SEC champion, in the Tuscaloosa Regional of the NCAA Tournament on Friday at 5:00 p.m. The regional also includes Clemson (42-6) an d Troy (36-15) who will play at 2:00 p.m.