DELAND, Fla. – The Savannah State Lady Tigers dropped a twinbill to Stetson University in DeLand, Florida, Saturday at Patricia Wilson Field. The Lady Hatters downed SSU 5-2 in the opening game and sealed up a mercy rule 9-1 win in the fifth inning of game two.

The Lady Tigers fall to 11-18 after the two losses, while Stetson improves to 15-10 overall. Both teams open conference play next weekend. Savannah State host Florida A&M in a doubleheader on Saturday, March 31 at the new Tiger Softball Field.

A couple of costly fielding errors by the Lady Tigers in the bottom half of the opening inning put the Lady Hatters up 4-0 into the second inning of game one. Savannah State added their only two runs in the top of the third. Tiffany Davies plated Jami Paolini on a single to center field after Paolini walked. Katherine Stewart blasted a single up the middle, scoring Chelsea Parrish who also walked.

The Lady Hatters tacked on one more run in the bottom of the sixth inning for the final score. Stetson's Courtney Brandt was tagged with the pitching win after 4 innings in the circle. She allowed 2 earned runs on 2 hits with 4 strikeouts and 5 walks. Meredith Owen garnered a save after 3 innings of work.

Savannah State's Tiffany Davies dropped her seventh pitching loss after a complete game on the mound. She allowed 5 runs (2 earned) on 7 hits with 1 strikeout and 3 walks. She is 2-7 overall.

In the nightcap three more costly errors put the Lady Tigers down early as Stetson added the mercy rule single run to end the game early in the fifth inning.

The Lady Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the opening inning as India Morgan platted Destiny Webster after she reached on a single and stole second. The Lady Hatters answered in the bottom half of the same inning as Owen scored Chrissy Morello on single to right field to tie the game.

In the bottom of the second inning, Stetson added 3 more runs on 3 hits and the Lady Tigers first error of the game. The runs were unanswered by Savannah State as the Lady Tigers failed to get any runners on base for the rest of the game.

The Lady Hatters tacked on two more runs in the third and fourth inning. In the fifth, Brittany Knipp reached on a throwing error, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Courtney Brandt scored Knipp on a single to right field scoring the 9^th and final run of the game.

Madison Hedderly was tagged with the loss after 2 innings of work. She allowed 4 runs (1 earned) on 2 strikeouts and 1 walk. Owen was tagged with the win after four innings of work. She allowed 1 earned run on 2 hits with 7 strikeouts and no walks.