ITTA BENA, Miss. – The Mississippi Valley State University softball program welcomes the Lady Hornets to Itta Bena for a Friday doubleheader plus one on Saturday while the rest of campus juggles the Football Spring Game, Breakfast of Champions, and MVSU Hall of Fame Banquet in what promises to be a fun but chaotic weekend in The Delta.
What You Need to Know
Time and Dates: Friday, April 8 (2 & 4:30 p.m.) | Saturday, April 9 (1 p.m.)
Records: Mississippi Valley State (7-17, 5-6 SWAC) | Alabama State (15-19, 7-5 SWAC)
Location: Itta Bena, Mississippi – MVSU Softball Field
Series History: Alabama State Leads 55-41
Last Meetings: April 15-16, 2021 | Alabama State Won Series 2-1 (Combined 15-18) | Montgomery, Alabama (Barbara Williams Softball Complex)
Winning Streak: Mississippi Valley State (W1) | Alabama State’s Last Win: April 16, 2021 (Game 1 of Doubleheader, 4-3)
Mississippi Valley State Overview
MVSU sits perched at the top of the league when it comes to fielding percentage (.957), is ninth in the country regarding triples on average (0.38), and slots as the conference runner-up in terms of strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.75).
Leading the charge from in the circle is hurler Daisy Page, who has been one of the most consistent pitchers in the SWAC all season long. The Alaskan currently sits second in the conference for BB/7 (1.45), third in ERA (2.90), fourth for shutouts (2), sixth in wins (5), and seventh for innings pitched (72.1). Right behind her in the BB/7 category is number two starter A’tajua Wren as she places fifth in the statistic at 1.76.
On the hitting spectrum, Brianna Alston continues to live up to her Preseason All-SWAC billing as she’s on a nine-game hitting streak while fronting the Devilettes in batting average (.286), hits (21), and RBIs (7).
Other notable batters include Shelby Carson and her eight-best triples per game rate in the nation (0.14) plus Keisha White who ranks seventh in the conference regarding stolen bases per contest (0.43).
Scouting The Opponent: Alabama State Lady Hornets
The preseason projected SWAC East champs currently sit one game behind Jackson State for first place and 1.5 in front of Valley heading into this pivotal matchup, coming off a rough weekend at home against the rival Lady Bulldogs who took two-of-three.
The Black and Gold have one of the fastest and best defensive teams in the country this season as they are top-20 nationally for both double plays per game (0.47) plus steals a night (2.03) while leading the Southwestern Athletic Conference with 41 doubles.
Kindall DeRamus has been a hitting machine for ASU, cranking out a top-15 hit total (48), a top-50 batting average (.421), a SWAC-best 0.88 runs per game, and the sixth-most stolen bases in the NCAA (26).
Alexandra Preston is the top dog in the conference for both doubles (12) and sacrifice flies (3) while Jazmine Dodd comes into the weekend third in the SWAC for batting average, nine points behind DeRamus at .412.
The majority of the pitching has come off the arm of Bailey Greenlee who ranks second in the conference for punchouts with 83. She is the Lady Hornets’ leader in ERA (3.07), wins (9), innings (109.1), shutouts (3), appearances (22), and games started (19).
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