Box Score SAVANNAH, Ga.- Junior outfielder Mendez Elder had three hits and drove in three runs to help Savannah State defeat Florida A&M 9-3 in a game played at Tiger Field.
 
The Atlanta, Georgia native had a RBI single in the first inning and a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh.
 
The Tigers (14-22), who had 10 hits on the day, scored twice in the first inning.
 
Hector Benitez led off with a walk and scored on a single by David Richards. After a walk by Charles Sikes and a ground out by Zachary Brigham, Elder singled to left field which allowed Richards to score.
 
SSU added another run in the fourth.
 
Harrison Moore walked, advanced to second on a balk and scored when Somto Egbuna reached base on an error by the shortstop to increase the Tigers lead to 3-0.
 
The Rattlers loaded the bases in the fifth but only scored once to trim the SSU lead to 3-1.
 
FAMU (14-20) tied the game in the top of the seventh when Taylor Strauss hit a RBI single and Brain Davis hit a RBI triple that scored Strauss.
 
In the bottom half of the inning, the SSU bats woke up to collect seven hits and score six runs.
 
SSU loaded the bases when Jonathan Moore and Benitez hit back to back singles and Sikes drew a walk. After a pitching change, Brigham drew a walk that allowed Moore to score. Following another pitching change, Elder, Benetiz, Harrison Moore and Ryan McCranie hit run scoring singles. The third pitching change of the inning resulted in Devan Jackson hitting a two-run double that allowed Moore and McCranie to cross home plate and make the score 9-3.
 
Spencer Gillis was awarded the win on the mound. The freshman from Springfield, Georgia pitched three innings and gave up four hits, two runs and on walk while striking out two.
 
Davis and Michael Birdsong had two hits each for FAMU while Brandon Fleming was tagged with the loss. Fleming pitched one inning and gave up two hits and three runs.
 
FAMU had nine hits on the afternoon and both teams made one error.
 
The Rattlers stranded 12 runners on base while SSU left six runners on base.