Softball 4/27/2022 7:35:00 PM

Trojans Eye a Pair of Wins against VUU to Capture Northern Division Title

The Trojans are just two wins away from being crowned the Northern Division Champions. Trojans would tie Bowie State with an 8-2 Divisional Record which would ultimately make the Trojans the Champions of the North because they swept BSU in both regular season games.

ETTRICK, VA – The VSU Softball team is just two games away from being crowned Northern Division Champions. The squad currently sits behind Bowie State who leads with an 8-2 divisional record while the Trojans are two games behind with a divisional record of 6-2. The Trojans would be outright champions of the Northern Division because they took down the Bulldogs of Bowie State in a doubleheader earlier this season. The team standing in their way of a Divisional Championship is not Bowie State, it just so happens to be their archrivals, Virginia Union University. The Trojans need to take down the Panthers in both games to claim the Northern Division title. The doubleheader will be on Thursday, April 28 in Richmond, VA at the VUU Softball Field starting at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.

Head Coach Jameshia Smith and Assistant Coach Rasheeda Crew currently lead a squad that is scattered throughout the national and conference rankings. The Softball team is currently ranked seventh in the nation (Leads Conference) in batting average (.364), 12^th in doubles per game (1.92), 34^nd in on-base percentage (Leads Conference) (.401), 15^th in slugging percentage (Leads Conference) (.537) and sixth in triples per game (Leads Conference) (.58). Of the 10 players on the team, seven players average a .300 batting average or better. The Trojans will attempt to find their rhythm as they return to play after 18 days off.

The Trojans are led by veteran and team MVP, Samantha Cunningham, who leads the team in batting average (.485), OPS (1.251), doubles (10), RBI (23), on-base percentage (.569) and walks (8). Cunningham is currently ranked sixth in the nation, first in the conference in batting average and 13^th in the nation, first in the conference in on-base percentage. She also ranks eighth in the nation in doubles per game with .42. She looks to extend her 18-game hitting streak.

Two-time CIAA Rookie of the Week and team Rookie of the Year for the VSU Softball team, Alaijah Pratt, leads the team with 86 at-bats, 38 hits, 29 runs, 43 total bases, and four triples (Leads the conference). Pratt ranks third in the conference in batting average (.458), 10^th in conference in slugging percentage (.614), eighth in On-Base Percentage (.465), seventh in OPS (1.079), second in triples (4), fourth in runs scored and fourth in hits (38). She looks to extend her five-game hitting streak.

Macy Beville wields a big bat as well as she also has a three homeruns on the season batting a .359 (fourth on the team). Beville also has 17 RBI so far and adds another 16 runs of her own.

The Most Improved player of the VSU softball team, Alani Horton, currently bats a .354. A game ago, she went 4-4 with a run and two RBI against one of the best pitchers in the conference at Bowie State.

The pitching rotation averages just 3.54 earned runs per contest, which ranks them second in the conference behind Virginia Union.

Alaijah Pratt has been lights out in the circle this season with a 3.23 ERA, which ranks her first on the team and in the conference while she also leads the team and ranks fourth in the conference in wins with seven. Pratt is 13^th in the nation in the fewest walks allowed per game with .79 and sixth in the nation in walks allowed per seven innings with seven. The freshman is sixth in the conference in opposing batting average (.282), fifth in hits allowed (72), third in runs allowed (30), second in earned runs allowed (24) and first in fewest walks (7).

Desmyn Owens is the ace of the squad as she leads the team in innings pitched with 73, batting average for opposing hitters with .273 (fifth in the conference) and strikeouts with 52 (eighth in the conference). Owens ranks seventh in batters that struck out looking (20), ties for ninth in earned runs allowed (42) and ties for third in home runs allowed (1).

Julia Jones leads the outfield with 45 putouts while Samantha Cunningham leads with 52 assisted outs on the season (fifth in the conference). Alaijah Pratt ranks ninth in the conference in assisted outs with 45. The Trojans will look to clean up their play defensively as they have 35 errors so far this season, which ranks them fifth in the conference.

Weekend Schedule
Thursday, April 28
Virginia State at Virginia Union
3:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. *Richmond, VA *VUU Softball Field

About Virginia Union
The Virginia Union Panthers are 13-9 overall, 8-6 in the CIAA and 5-3 in the Northern Division which puts the Panthers a game behind the Trojans in third place. After a subpar CIAA Round-Up going 3-3, the Panthers went 7-3 in the back half of their schedule as they currently boast a four-game winning streak. The Panthers maintain a .338 batting average with a .393 on-base percentage which ranks them second behind the Trojans. Nevaeh Johnson has been a hard out all season as she currently ranks six the in the conference in batting average (.419), eighth in slugging percentage (.629) and eighth in on-base slugging percentage (1.062). Dominique Mulera puts the bat on the ball quite a bit as well with a .400 batting average which ranks her 10^th in the conference. Mulera is the ace of the rotation as she leads the team with a 2.98 ERA which ranks her second in the conference behind Alaijah Pratt. She leads the conference in opposing batting average (.200), ranks seventh in strikeouts (56), fourth in batter struck out looking (25), first in hits allowed (40), first in runs allowed (25), fourth in earned runs allowed (24), third in doubles allowed (6) and eighth in triples allowed (2).

Series History
The Trojans are 17-8 against the Panthers in matchups dating back to 2011. VSU has won the last two matchups but dropped three-straight prior to that. The Trojans will look to improve upon their 10-2 away record against the Panthers. The two teams are an even 5-5 against one another in the last 10 matchups.

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