FAMU Softballers Clinch MEAC Southern Division

Alexis Day led FAMU with four hits and three RBIs in
Sunday's win over B-CU.

DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – The FAMU Women's Softball team overcame its' self-destructive tendencies Sunday afternoon with a 15-hit attack to overhaul host Bethune-Cookman, 13-7, and capture the 2017 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Southern Division championship at Sunnyland Field.

Sunday's win gave the Lady Rattlers (18-27-1, 13-2 MEAC) their first Southern Division crown since 2009, while foiling archrival Bethune-Cookman's bid for their first division title since 2014.

Bethune-Cookman (21-29, 11-4 MEAC), which gained a split of Saturday's doubleheader with a 6-5 win in Game Two, aided by an uncharacteristic eight FAMU errors, struck for three runs in the bottom of the second Sunday for an early 3-0 lead.

FAMU sliced the B-CU edge to 3-2 in the top of third, when Amber Fullwood's RBI double,followed by Toni Anderson's RBI single drove home two runs and began stoking the offensive flames for the Orange and Green.

The Wildcats plated a run in the bottom of the third for a 4-2 edge, but the FAMU offense found its' stride in the fifth and sixth innings, scoring 11 runs to break the game open.

In the fifth, FAMU scored six runs on four hits to take the lead for good at 8-4, keyed by two-run singles each from pitcher Kenya Pereira and shortstop Jamesia Stoudemire.

The Lady ‘Cats would not fold however, scoring three runs on three hits in the bottom of the fifth to pull within one run, 8-7, before FAMU would take control in the sixth.

FAMU scored five runs on four hits, aided by two Lady ‘Cats errors to close out the game's scoring by extending their lead to 13-7.

Alexis Day lashed a two-run double, scoring Amber Fullwood and Trinity Alexander for a 10-7 count. Tahlia Snider bashed a two-run double two batters later, scoring Day and Pereira for a 12-7 edge, with Snider scoring the final run later in the inning from third on a two-out throwing error.

Pereira (8-9) closed out Bethune-Cookman, tossing two scoreless innings in the sixth and seventh, finishing the day with seven strikeouts, two walks, scattering 13 hits while allowing seven runs in seven complete innings.

Heading the FAMU offense Sunday was Alexis Day, who finished with four hits and a pair of RBI, Snider who had three hits and two RBI, along with the trio of Toni Anderson, Whitney Farris and Pereira, who each had two hits.

WHAT'S ON DECK: FAMU will close their 2017 regular season schedule in Gainesville next Saturday and Sunday in the Florida Invitational Tournament. Saturday, FAMU is slated to face North Texas (3:30 p.m.), and Sunday, they will tangle with the host Florida Gators (2:30)…. The next weekend, Thursday-Saturday, May 11-13, FAMU heads to Ormond Beach, Florida for the 2017 MEAC Softball Championship, where they will gun for their fourth straight league title.

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