Posted on
Sat, Apr. 17, 2004, The State Newspaper
Benedict needs 3 wins today for title
BY JOHN DEVLIN
Special Correspondent
Albany State has emerged as the surprise team in the
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference softball
tournament.
The Golden Rams (25-37) advanced to today’s championship
game at noon with Friday victories against regular-season
division champions Benedict and Kentucky State.
ASU defeated Western Division champ Kentucky State
8-0 in the early game Friday behind the stellar pitching
of Corinna Garcia, and then turned away Benedict 4-2
behind No. 2 hurler Christina Harris.
Benedict will face Kentucky State today in a 9 a.m.
elimination game. The survivor must beat Albany State
twice to win the tourney title and move on to the NCAA
Division II regional playoffs.
“Our kids came into the tournament with a lot of confidence,
despite our record,” said Albany State coach Robert
Skinner, whose team finished second in the East, one
game behind Benedict. “We’ve played against great competition
this season, and though we didn’t beat any ranked teams,
that experience is really paying off for us right now.”
Skinner had no reservations about sending Harris to
the mound against Benedict in the showdown between
the two teams that hadn’t lost in the double-elimination
tournament.
“We’ve been rotating Garcia and Harris all season,
so there was no way I was going to take the ball out
of her hands,” Skinner said. “And she did a great job
of keeping (Benedict) off the bases, because that’s
when they are a very dangerous team with all their
speed.”
Harris was effective, if not spectacular. The composed
right-hander had no strikeouts, but didn’t issue a
walk, either. She simply threw strikes and relied on
her defense. Benedict had 10 hits, but never had more
than two runners on base at any time and only once
had a runner in scoring position with less than two
outs.
Trailing 4-1, the Tigers got a boost when freshman
outfielder Lynia Lyburd led off the bottom of the sixth
with an inside-the-park home run — a one-hop rope to
the fence in left-center field. Cylena Norris followed
with a single, but catcher Chanika Braithwate bounced
into a double play.
“I really thought we were going to make our move right
there,” Benedict coach Gwendolyn Rouse said. “(Harris)
pitched a good game, and they played good defense,
but it was still disappointing because we’re just not
hitting the ball the way we did for most of the season.”
Albany State scored once in the first and three times
in the second before Benedict starter Deanna Butler
settled into a groove.
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