The Albany State Lady Rams picked up their first two SIAC losses of the season during the annual conference softball crossover tournament, held March 15-17 at Memorial Park in Jasper, Ala. The Lady Rams drop to 10-17 overall and 8-2 in conference play.

The Lady Rams defeated the Miles College Lady Bears 9-7, LeMoyne-Owen College Lady Magicians 19-1, Tuskegee University Lady Tigers 4-3, and the Lane College Lady Dragons 14-1, in the three-day tournament, but lost to co-champions Stillman College Lady Tigers and Kentucky State University Thorobrettes, leaving the Lady Rams with a 4-2 tournament record. ASU’s two losses were a 3-0 shutout by Kentucky State on Thursday and a 5-2 setback to Stillman on Saturday.

ASU head coach Robert Skinner said he was disappointed in his team’s performance during the tournament, which the Lady Rams have dominated in past years.

“For us to lose games in the cross over is disappointing,” Skinner said. “We were 5-1 in the tournament last year and 6-0 the first four years of the event. “We made a couple of mistakes and they came back to haunt us.”

During the tournament, junior infielder Ke’Cia Griffin was 5-for-13 with eight RBI, including two home runs. Senior third baseman Shandria Usher was 6-for-9 and drove in six runs. Sophomore catcher Chaconna Marks and freshman pitcher Chelsea Hicks each had a home run.

Senior pitcher Shaywona Marks, who went 3-0 with wins against LeMoyne-Owen, Lane and Miles, struck out five batters, while Hicks, who was 1-2, struck out eight batters.

The Lady Rams play again Tuesday at Fort Valley State University before hosting Paine College and Claflin University in a pair of weekend doubleheaders.