The Mississippi Valley State Devilettes captured the 2008 Southwestern Athletic Conference women’s softball tournament title as they defeated the Southern Lady Jaguars with a 6-3 victory in Game 11 of the tournament.
The Devilettes jumped out 4-0 in the third inning – a rally capped off by a series of singles and two fielding errors. Southern would get on the scoreboard in the fourth inning guided by an Aruba Nichols RBI hit.
The Devilettes would play “small ball†getting base hits, using effective base running and the sacrifice plays to score in both the fifth and sixth innings. Southern would get a run on a single by Jasmine Tillman, but could not overcome the deficit.
The win clinched the fifth consecutive title for the Devilettes.
Game 10: Southern d. Miss. Valley State 5-2
Southern got a grand slam from Lauren Dodd in the sixth inning to take the lead and force a decisive tournament final. The Lady Jaguars got on the board in the first inning as Courtney Chappell reached on a error and scored on a Victoria Stewart single. Mississippi Valley State got two runs in the fifth as Megan Hays and Ashley Lawrence both crossed the plate.
Down 2-1 in the sixth inning, the Lady Jaguars filled the bases with Nicholas, Stewart and Hymes before Dodd came the plate. Dodd took a 1-0 pitch and roped a laser over the left field fence that struck the scoreboard.
All-Tournament Team
Napue Gouveia and Adrianne Harrington (Alcorn State); Rebecca Martinez (Prairie View A&M); Denean Woods and Jackie DeLeon (Grambling State); Debra Borcherding (Alabama A&M); Brittany Hymes and Victoria Stewart (Southern); Brittany Franklin and Erica Hardin (Mississippi Valley State).
Most Outstanding Player – Brittany J. Franklin, Mississippi Valley State
