CLEVELAND-The Mississippi Valley State Devilettes used three home runs to hand the Delta State Lady Statesmen their 10th straight loss Tuesday at University Field.
MVSU (14-17) used a two out home run in the first inning by Alexandria Robertson off DSU starter
Brittany Gonzales to take a 1-0 lead.
DSU (9-20) responded in the bottom of the second with a two out single by
Meagan Church that scored
Katie Hebert.
The Lady Statesmen added two more runs in the bottom of the fourth with another RBI by Church, this time coming off a groundout to second base that again scored Hebert.
Church then helped DSU score its second run of the inning, as she induced a throw on a stolen base attempt.
Lauren Lewis scored from third during the rundown.
The Devilettes loaded the bases with no outs in the top of the fifth, but Gonzales retired three straight hitters to keep MVSU off the board.
Nicole Burr tied the game in the top of the sixth with a home run to center that just cleared the fence.
With one out in the bottom of the seventh, DSU had runners on first and second base.
Maggie Jackson lined out to left field, and an a walk by
Angela Carden loaded the bases for Hebert.
MVSU starter Taylor Pleasant forced Hebert to ground out to second to end the bases loaded threat.
The teams went to the international tiebreaker in the top of the eighth, and Valley took advantage with a Rashundra Brass two run homerun to centerfield that capped off a lengthy at-bat.
Church's third RBI of the game came with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, scoring Hebert, who was the tiebreaker runner. A
Crista Richard groundout to third ended the game for DSU.
Pleasant (5-3) went all eight innings in the win, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits with six walks and a pair of strikeouts.
Gonzales (2-12) took the loss for DSU. The sophomore worked all but one Valley batter.
Church was the only player for DSU with multiple hits (2-for-4).
Robertson and Burr each had two hits for MVSU.
The scheduled doubleheader with LSU-Alexandria scheduled for Wednesday, March 30 has been postponed until late April.
DSU will return to action for a weekend Gulf South Conference series with Christian Brothers. The action begins with a 3 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, April 2.
