Next Game:
vs. Southern
5/6/2026 | 7:00 PM EST
SWAC TV
May. 06 (Wed) / 7:00 PM EST
vs. Southern
GULFPORT, Miss. — Zoryana Hughes dominated for five innings and Amari Brown delivered the decisive blow as No. 1 seed Florida A&M dispatched Arkansas-Pine Bluff 4-1 Tuesday night in Game 4 of the SWAC Championship Tournament at Gulfport Sportsplex, advancing the Rattlers to the quarterfinals.
Hughes, the Lake City, Fla., junior left-hander, worked through the heart of the UAPB lineup with precision, scattering four hits and allowing one unearned run over five innings while striking out six. The junior pitcher improved her season record to 13-4, and reliever Samantha Smith worked the final two frames to close it out, earning her second save of the season. Florida A&M pitching issued just one walk on the night and committed zero errors.
The Rattlers wasted no time establishing control. With two outs in the bottom of the first, FAMU erupted for a two-run rally against Ark.-Pine Bluff starter Danika Bryant, who was yanked after recording just two outs. Jordan Douglas ripped a single through the left side to plate Jamison Townsend, and graduate Samantha Smith followed with an RBI walk as Amari Brown scored to make it 2-0.
Brown was the catalyst all night, reaching base all four times she came to the plate. The senior shortstop went 3-for-4 with a double, one RBI and two runs scored. She currently sits at .405 on the season.
FAMU extended the lead in the third when Douglas came up clutch again, singling to right to score Brown for a 3-0 cushion. In the fourth, senior center fielder Neriah Lee came around to score on a Brown single to center to push the lead to 4-1. For the game, Douglas finished 2-for-3 with two RBI — continuing a tournament in which she has been one of the Rattlers’ most reliable run producers.
Senior catcher Keeleigh Spooner had a standout performance at the plate as well, going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk as the top of the FAMU order consistently put runners in motion. Lee, a .352 hitter on the year, drew a walk and scored once to complement Townsend’s 1-for-3, one-run showing out of the three-hole.
Ark.-Pine Bluff’s only run came in the third inning when Ryen Gaddis doubled to left-center to plate Ariana Gonzalez, who had reached on a leadoff single. Hughes methodically shut the door thereafter, leaning on six strikeouts and a 65-of-97 strike percentage to keep the Golden Lions (14-30) off-balance.
Smith entered in the sixth with a 4-1 lead and was sharp, allowing just one hit over her two-inning save, retiring the final three batters after UAPB’s Lyric Perry was thrown out at third to kill the only serious threat of the late innings.
Florida A&M improved to 28-19 on the season and advances to the SWAC Tournament winner’s bracket, where the Rattlers will face Southern University — the No. 2 seed in the West — Wednesday at 7 p.m. EST at Gulfport Sportsplex.
KEY STATS
HITTING
· Amari Brown: 3-for-4, 2B, 2 R, 1 RBI
· Jordan Douglas: 2-for-3, 2 RBI
· Keeleigh Spooner: 2-for-3, 2B, BB
· Neriah Lee: 1-for-3, R, BB
· Jamison Townsend: 1-for-3, R, BB
PITCHING
· Zoryana Hughes (W, 13-4): 5.0 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 SO
· Samantha Smith (SV, 2): 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB