Southern completes first SWAC home sweep since 2011

Courtesy: David Clark, SU Athletics Media Relations Student Photographer

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  --  Freshman Bailey Rankin stepped into the batter's box at Lady Jaguar Field with the game on the line in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Southern, eyeing the programs first SWAC series sweep since April 2011, was tied 3-3 with Arkansas-Pine Bluff with runners in scoring position and one out.

Facing an 0-2 count, Rankin connected on a low fastball to produce a bloop-single that carried over third base and dropped just shy of left field. Redshirt Junior Danielle Jackson, who struck out but reached first base safely after UAPB catcher Kelsey Ridgeway dropped the third strike, scored the decisive run.

For a Southern squad which started 0-22 before capturing its first win of the season in late March, Saturday's 4-3 win over UAPB provided the exclamation point for a team in the midst of a dramatic mid-season makeover and now finds itself in the hunt for a SWAC Western division title.

"I really think that these girls are just buying into what we work on in practice everyday and it's the little things," Interim head coach Tayl'r Hollis said.  "I talk about the small victories and I mean these girls came out here and they fought and they battled every inning. We’ve been talking about win each inning, win each pitch.

I talked to our pitchers about when they’re on the mound, they’re ‘one-pitch’ warriors. They’re not making the game bigger than what it is. They’re taking one inning at a time and are just buying into what (Assistant) Coach (John) Garris and I are trying to teach them."

Despite a 6-30 overall record, seven losses were decided by one run in games which came down to the final at bat in most instances. And since defeating Alabama A&M 9-0 in its final game of the SWAC Softball Roundup in Longview, Texas, Southern is 5-1 in league play and hosts Prairie View A&M April 11-12 at Lady Jaguar Field.

Friday's first pitch is set for 3 p.m. with Saturday's doubleheader starting at noon.

With the help of its freshman class, Southern has positioned itself to contend for a division title if it can navigate the conference terrain unscathed over the final six games of SWAC play.

[The play of the freshman class] shows what the future of this program will look like and the journey that we are going to be taking is going to be a positive one," Hollis said.

"I think it's going to be – I was telling the girls yesterday - Jag domination from here on out. Jade Luke really stepped up [in Game 1 Saturday]. Bailey Rankin coming in clutch at the end there, being a freshman in an 0-2 count. I don't think there's much more pressure than she could’ve had on her at that time. Rankin’s game-winning single was a phenomenal moment for her as a player.

COURTESY SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS MEDIA RELATIONS