Racers Blank AAMU; Win Hornet Invitational

Sunday, February 16

Montgomery, Ala.

2:30 p.m.

Murray State

5-2

Alabama A&M

5-3

Alabama A&M

Murray St.

2/16/2014 5:33:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

| Box Score (PDF) | Season Stats (PDF)

The Murray State softball team shutout Alabama A&M, 8-0, on Sunday afternoon in Montgomery to win the Alabama State Hornet Invitational with a 3-0 record. At 5-2 overall on the season, the Racers are off to the best start in the five-year history of the program.

While there was no actual set championship game for the tournament, MSU entered the game at 2-0 on the weekend, while Bulldogs had won each of its previous three games, setting up the de facto title tilt. The Racers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead in the contest with a sacrifice fly from Alexa Becker in the first and a RBI single from Maggie Glass in the second. Glass pushed the score out to 3-0 when she went yard in the fourth for the first home run of her collegiate career.

Murray State busted the game wide open in the fifth when it tacked on four runs in the bottom part of the frame. The inning opened with Cayla Levins reaching on an error, which was immediately followed by another error that allowed Levins and the batter, Shelbey Miller, to score. Alexa Becker made it 6-0 two batters later with a double that drove in Mo Ramsey, who also reached on error. MSU capped of the inning with a sacrifice fly from Casey Castile that allowed Becker to cross the plate, pushing the lead to 7-0.

In the sixth, Mallory Young got her second hit of the weekend in pinch hit attempts to put the would-be winning run on first with one out. In the next at-bat, Erica Howard hit a pinch hit double to drive in Young and end the game via the 8-run rule.

J.J. Francis (1-1) tossed the first complete game shutout of her career on Sunday, as she allowed no runs on three hits with three strikeouts over six innings of work. Francis had a no-hitter working until the fifth inning, marking the second time in as many games that a Racer had a no-no bid ended the fifth. Mason Robinson, like Francis on Sunday, had her attempt broken up by a lead-off single in the fifth on Saturday against Alabama A&M.

On Friday, the Racers will travel to Southaven, Miss., for five games the Blues City Classic hosted by the University of Memphis. While in the Land of the Delta Blues, Murray State will take on Appalachian State, Evansville, Ball State, Loyola Chicago and Lipscomb.