ORMOND BEACH, Fla. – The No. 1S seed Savannah State University (25-22) comeback bid fell short to No. 3S seed Florida A&M University (25-27) in a 4-3 loss in the second round of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Softball Championship Thursday night at the Ormond Beach Sports Complex.
 
FAMU scored all four runs in the first four innings, but the Lady Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
Junior left fielder Chasney Jenkins, senior first baseman Torrian Wright and junior pitcher Amanda Hallman each went 2-for-3 while Wright hit a solo home run and Hallman scored once.  Junior catcher Tia Bolden went 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, while senior second baseman Antonette Smith recorded an RBI.
 
On the mound, Hallman went the distance giving up four runs, one earned, on six hits with 10 strikeouts.
 
FAMU scored two runs in the top of the first inning to capture a 2-0 lead after the first inning after an RBI single and an illegal pitch that allowed a Rattler to score.
 
The Rattlers added another run in the top of the second inning for a 3-0 lead after two innings after an error by the catcher, who threw down to second with no one covering the bag.
 
Florida A&M added a run in the top of the fourth inning to take a 4-0 lead after four innings after an error with two outs allowed a Rattler to score.
 
The Lady Tigers scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning to cut the FAMU lead to a run, 4-3.  Wright started the inning with a home run on a 2-2 count to left field.  After a fly out to center field, Hallman singled to center field to force a Rattler pitching change.  Bolden tripled down the left field line to bring home Hallman to cut the lead to 4-2. 
 
Smith grounded out to second base to bring home Bolden from third base to cut the lead to 4-3.  Sophomore center fielder Shelby Eccles walked, but a groundout to the third baseman ended the inning.
 
FAMU started the top of the seventh inning with a back-to-back singles and a pass ball put runners on second and third with no outs.  Hallman recorded back-to-back strikeouts and the final batter grounded out to the shortstop, after the umpires ruled that the first baseman had applied the tag to get the runner for the final out of the inning.
 
Savannah State's final chance in the bottom of the seventh inning came up short.  The inning started with back-to-back strikeouts and Wright was intentionally walked, but a pop up to the second baseman ended the game.   
 
Alexis Day went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Jessica Nathan went 1-for-4 with two runs scored and Tashay Irvis went 1-for-4 with a run scored. On the mound, Kenya Pereira (13-13) picked up the win pitching 5.2 innings pitched giving up three runs on eight hits, while Veronica Burse pitched 1.1 shutout innings without giving up a hit. 
 
The Lady Tigers face No. 3N seed Hampton University (20-27) at 10 a.m. Friday.   The winner faces the winner of No. 1N Delaware State University (28-17) and No. 2N seed Norfolk State (18-24) at 3 p.m., while the loser gets knocked out the tournament. 
 
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