SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Savannah State University softball team (2-7) travels to Charleston, S.C., this weekend to face Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponent Delaware State, UT Arlington and host Charleston Southern in five games for the Charleston Southern Tournament.
 
The Lady Tigers start the tournament against DSU (2-3) at 9 a.m. and the Mavericks (10-0) at 11 a.m. on Friday, followed by UT Arlington at 9 a.m. and CSU (7-1) at 1 p.m. on Saturday and CSU at 3 p.m. on Sunday.
 
Sophomore center fielder Shelby Eccles leads the Lady Tigers with a .391 (9-for-23) batting average and has recorded two runs scored, two doubles, three RBIs, a .478 slugging percentage and a .417 on-base percentage, while freshman third baseman Cortni Jones also has a .391 (9-for-23) batting average and six runs scored, a double, two home runs with a team-best .696 slugging percentage and a .440 on-base percentage. 
 
Eccles batted a team-best .600 (6-for-10) with a run scored, a double and an RBI with a slugging percentage of .700 and an on-base percentage of .636 last weekend at the USC Upstate Tournament in Spartanburg, S.C., while junior pitcher Amanda Hallman added a batting average of .357 (5-for-14) with two doubles and three RBIs.
 
Jones added a .333 (4-for-12) batting average with three runs scored, a home run, four RBIs with a .583 slugging percentage and a .385 on-base percentage and was named on the All-Tournament Team and was the College Sports Madness MEAC Player of the Week.
 
Senior first baseman Torrian Wright leads the MEAC and the National Collegiate Athletic Association and leads the MEAC in on-base percentage with .667, which ranks 11^th in the NCAA.
 
As a team, the Lady Tigers are hitting .256, which ranks seventh in the conference, is averaging 0.33 home runs per game, which ranks third in the MEAC and is averaging 4.11 runs per game, which ranks second in the conference.  SSU is sporting a 5.60 ERA, which ranks seventh in the conference and is sixth with a .339 slugging percentage in the conference.
 
Freshman Kasie Johnson leads the Lady Tigers with a 0.93 ERA giving up two earned runs in 15.0 innings pitched with two complete games.  The Patterson, Ga., native ranks second in ERA in the conference and 49^th in the NCAA and ranks second in the MEAC in hits allowed per seven innings with 4.20 and 45^th in the NCAA.  Sophomore pitcher Ashley Eichenlaub has a 5.57 ERA with a complete game and five strikeouts in 16.1 innings pitched. 
 
DSU, who was picked to win the MEAC Northern Division, went 2-3 at the UNC Wilmington Invitational to start the season with both wins over Rhode Island (3-2) and (11-2), but fell to UNC Wilmington twice 7-1, and 4-0 and to Lafayette 10-3.
 
The Lady Hornets are led by Sandy Hawthorne with a .313 (5-for-16) batting average and four RBIs, while Rochelle Sablay is batting .308 (4-for-13) with two RBIs and Nicole Gazzola .278 (5-for-18).  Jessica Shalongo leads the team on the mound with a 5.40 ERA with seven strikeouts in 8.1 innings, while Tara Tursellino has a 6.75 ERA with nine strikeouts in 9.1 innings pitched.
 
As a team, DSU is hitting .237 (31-for-131) with 18 runs scored, three doubles, a triple and 12 RBIs with a .275 slugging percentage and a .270 on-base percentage.  On the mound, the Lady Hornets are sporting a 6.90 ERA with two complete games with 21 strikeouts and 14 walks in 30.0 innings pitched.
 
UT Arlington has recorded a perfect 10-0 record this season with all games played at home.  The Savannah State game will the first road game of the season for the Mavericks.  UTA is led by Krista Rude with a .556 (15-for-27) batting average, while Sandra Mendoza is batting .515 (17-for-33) with 14 RBIs and 11 runs scored and Brianna Burchianti is batting .458 (11-for-24) with eight RBIs.  Samantha Clakley leads the team on the mound with an 0.49 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 28.2 innings pitched, while Brroklynne Simbeck is sporting a 1.08 ERA with eight strikeouts in 13.0 innings pitched.
 
The Mavericks are hitting .369 (94-for-255) with 68 runs scored, 17 doubles, three triples and 59 RBIs and is sporting a .471 slugging percentage and a .468 on-base percentage.  On the mound, UTA has recorded a 1.21 ERA with five complete games and three shutouts with 36 strikeouts and 20 walks in 63.2 innings pitched.
 
Charleston Southern's only loss this season was to Western Carolina 6-5 after defeated WCU 5-4 the day before.  The Buccaneers have played all eight games this season at home and has defeated MEAC opponent North Carolina A&T State twice 3-1 and 10-2.
 
As a team, the Bucs are hitting .347 (70-for-202) with 46 runs scored, 12 doubles, one triple, five home runs and 40 RBIs and has recorded a .446 on-base percentage and a .490 slugging percentage.  On the mound, CSU is sporting a 2.46 ERA with three complete games and 31 strikeouts and 20 walks in 54.0 innings pitched.
 
The Lady Tigers return home with a doubleheader against Presbyterian College on Wednesday starting at 1 p.m. at Lady Tiger Softball Field before heading to Birmingham, Ala., for the Tiny Laster Tournament. 
 
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