After cutting vacation short, Binford makes AUSL debut

By Jared Greenspan | July 8, 2025

Aliyah Binford was on vacation in Pensacola, Fla., with a few of her former Ole Miss teammates when she received a call from the Blaze.

Would she like to join the team?

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“She said it was an absolute yes,” AUSL senior reporter Savanna Collins relayed on Tuesday’s broadcast. “She wanted to play pro, and so a few days later, she cut her vacation short.”

The Blaze officially selected Binford from the Reserve Athlete Pool on July 3. The former collegiate star at both Baylor and Ole Miss made her professional debut in Tuesday’s 12-10 victory over the Bandits, drawing the start in the circle. She recorded five outs and allowed four runs.

This past college season, Binford shined as a two-way player, hitting .320 with 15 home runs, while pitching to a 3.46 ERA in 115 1/3 innings in the circle. She steered the Rebels to their first Women’s College World Series appearance in program history and was later named to the NCAA’s All-Tournament Team. During the tournament, Binford was at her best, posting a 2.66 ERA while hitting .344 with four home runs.

Talons 4, Volts 0

There’s no slowing down the league-best Talons.

The Talons stretched their winning streak to six games -- and maintained their lead atop the standings in the process -- with a 4-0 win over the Volts in the second game of Tuesday’s AUSL doubleheader.

Sharlize Palacios jumpstarted the offense with an RBI double in the second inning. From there, the Talons continued to tack on, first via an RBI double from Sydney Romero, and then later thanks to a pair of runs in the fifth inning -- including a solo shot from Jadelyn Allchin.

That proved to be plenty of run support for Georgina Corrick, who hurled a three-hit shutout. The Talons have now won 10 of their last 11 games.

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