SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Savannah State University softball team (0-21) fell to Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference opponent University of Maryland Eastern Shore (4-10) 7-6 and 8-0 in six innings in a nonconference battle at the Lady Tiger Softball Field Tuesday.
 
Senior right fielder Alexis Singleton went 5-for-7 (.714) with a run scored, a triple and two RBIs in two games, while sophomore catcher Kelsey Cyrus batted .400 (2-for-5) with a runs scored, a double and two RBIs and senior pitcher Amanda McDowell batted .333 (2-for-6) with a runs scored. 
 
Over the last five games, Singleton is batting .824 (14-for-17) with three runs scored, two triples and four RBIs to raise her batting average to .422 (27-for-64) this season. 
 
Maryland Eastern Shore 7, Savannah State 6 (Game One)
Singleton led SSU going 3-for-4 with a triple, a runs scored and two RBIs, while Cyrus went 1-for-3 with a run scored and two RBIs.  On the mound, McDowell (0-8) picked up the loss pitching a complete game giving up five earned runs on nine hits with nine strikeouts.

Savannah State broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the first inning with two runs to take a 2-0 lead after the first inning. Singleton started the inning with a single to right field and stole second, followed by a strikeout and a junior second baseman Brianna Harris' bunt single and stole second to put runners on second and third with one out.
 
Singleton scored on a wild pitch and Harris also advanced to third and senior left field Chasney Jenkins singled on a bunt to drive home Harris for a 2-0 lead.  After Jenkins stole second, the next two batters flied out and popped up to end the inning. 
 
Maryland Eastern Shore took its first lead of the game with three runs in the third inning to take a 3-2 lead after three innings after a two-run double and an error allowed a Hawk to score.
 
But the Lady Tigers took the lead again by scoring four runs in the fourth inning to take a 6-3 lead after four innings.  McDowell started the inning with a single, followed by sophomore designated player Faith Dickerson's hit-by-pitch.  After a sacrifice groundout to advance the runners to second and third, Cyrus doubled to right field to drive home McDowell and Dickerson for a 4-3 lead.  
 
Sophomore third baseman Allye Sneed singled to left center and stole second to put runners on second and third with one out.  Singleton tripled to right center to drive home Cyrus and Sneed for a 6-3 lead.  A strikeout and a pop out to second base ended the inning.
 
The Hawks scored the final four runs of the game in the fifth inning for the one-run win after an RBI single, a two-run single and another RBI single.
 
The Hawks were led by Allison Anderson going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs, while Lindsey Synder added two RBIs off the bench.  On the mound, Adrienne Guerra (2-5) picked up the in relief pitching the final 3.2 shutout innings giving up zero hits and one walk.
 
Maryland Eastern Shore 8, Savannah State 0 (6) (Game Two)
Singleton went 2-for-3 at the plate, while McDowell and Cyrus each added a hit.  Dickerson (0-10) picked the loss pitching the first 5.2 innings giving up five earned runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts.
 
The Hawks scored three runs in the top of the first inning to take a 3-0 lead after the first after a two-run double and an error to allow a Hawk to score and scored a run in the third inning to take a 4-0 lead after an RBI single. 
 
Maryland Eastern Shore scored another run in the fifth inning to take a 5-0 lead after an throwing error allowed a Hawk to score and scored the final three runs of the game in the sixth inning after three RBI walks and left the bases loaded.
 
Savannah State's best chance to score a run was in the fifth inning.  After Cyrus was hit by a pitch to start the inning, Sneed sacrifice Cyrus to second for the first out.  Junior center fielder Shelby Eccles was hit by a pitch and Singleton singled to center field to load the bases with one out.  A strikeout and a groundout to the shortstop ended the SSU threat.
 
The Lady Tigers start MEAC play with a three-game series against Bethune-Cookman University this weekend at Lady Tiger Softball Field.  The two schools play in a doubleheader Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and a single game Sunday at noon. 
 
Maryland E. Shore 7, Savannah State 6 (Mar 21, 2017 at Savannah, Ga.) (Game 1)
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Maryland E. Shore... 003 040 0 -  7  9  1      (3-10)
Savannah State...... 200 400 0 -  6  8  3      (0-20)
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Pitchers: Maryland E. Shore - HALLMAN,Erin; GINGRICH,LeAnn(1); GUERRA,Adrienne(4) and
BAKER,Nicole; GINGRICH,Allison. Savannah State - MCDOWELL,AMANDA and CYRUS,Kelsey.
Win-GUERRA,Adrienne(2-5)  Loss-MCDOWELL,AMANDA(0-8)  T-2:14  A-38
Weather: 80's and Sunny
 
Maryland E. Shore 8, Savannah State 0 (Mar 21, 2017 at Savannah, Ga.) (Game 2)
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Maryland E. Shore... 301 013  -  8 11  2      (4-10)
Savannah State...... 000 000  -  0  4  6      (0-21)
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Pitchers: Maryland E. Shore - GUERRA,Adrienne and WHALEY,Sara Jo. Savannah State -
DICKERSON,Faith; MCDOWELL,AMANDA(6) and CYRUS,Kelsey.
Win-GUERRA,Adrienne(3-5)  Loss-DICKERSON,Faith(0-10)  T-2:01  A-48
Weather: 80's and Sunny
 
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