SAVANNAH, Ga. – The Savannah State University softball team (3-1) split two games Saturday on day two of the Tiger Classic at the Lady Tiger Softball Field.
 
The Lady Tigers run ruled South Carolina State University (0-3) 12-0 in five innings, but fell to Norfolk State University (2-2) 10-9.  After trailing for most of the game, Savannah State came back to tie the game at nine in the bottom of the sixth inning against Norfolk State, but the Spartans scored the winning run in the top half of the seventh inning.

Junior third baseman Cortni Jones went 6-for-7 (.857 batting average) at the plate with five runs scored, a homerun and two RBIs, while senior second baseman Shelby Eccles batted .571 (4-for-7) with three runs scored and two RBIs in two games Saturday. 
 
On the mound, Amanda Hallman (1-1) recorded a 1.50 ERA with one complete shutout game pitching 6.0 innings giving up one run on four hits with eight strikeouts.
 
Savannah State 12, South Carolina State 0 (5)
Senior center fielder Brianna Harris led the team going 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs and a run scored, while Eccles went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and Jones went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.  On the mound, Hallman went for the complete game scattering two hits and had seven strikeouts.
 
Savannah State scored a run in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead after Jones singled home Eccles, but added nine runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 10-0.
 
After senior shortstop Drea Lesure reached on an error by the shortstop, sophomore catcher Kelsey Cyrus walked and junior right fielder Allye Sneed singled to third to load the bases with no outs.  Harris singled to left field to drive home Lesure and Cyrus for a 3-0 lead and Sneed scored on a wild pitch for a 4-0 lead.  Eccles reached on an error by the pitcher and stole second, while Harris scored on an error by the catcher on a throw down to third for a 5-0 lead. 
 
Humes walked and after back-to-back outs, junior right fielder Peyton Mitchell singled through the left side to drive home Humes for a 6-0 lead, and put runners on first and second with two outs.  A wild pitch moved the runners up a base and Lesure hit a two-run single to drive home Mitchell and Jones for an 8-0 lead.  Cyrus doubled to right center to drive home Lesure for a 9-0 lead and Sneed singled to the pitcher to score Cyrus for a 10-0 lead.  Harris singled, but Sneed was thrown out at home to end the inning.
 
The Lady Tigers scored the final two runs in the bottom of the third inning for the 12 run win after Hallman singled to left field to drive home Jones and Eccles.
 
The Bulldogs were led by Jada Richardson and Kaniesha Pettiford with a hit each, while Kayla Phillips (0-1) picked up the loss pitching two innings giving up 10 runs, four earned, on 10 hits. 
 
Norfolk State 7, Savannah State 4
Eccles went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBIs, while Humes and Jones each went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  On the mound, junior pitcher Faith Dickerson pitched the first 5.0 innings giving up four runs, two earned, on six hits with four strikeouts, but Deckle (1-0) picked up the win in relief pitching the final 2.0 hitless innings.
 
Norfolk State started the game hot scoring the first five runs of the game to take a 5-0 lead after the first inning after a two-run double and a two-run homerun to left field.
 
But the Lady Tigers started to come back scoring a run in the bottom of the second inning after Lesure singled to center field to drive home Jones to cut the lead to 5-1 and scored three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the lead to a run, 5-3, after four innings.
 
In the fourth, Humes hit an infield single and Jones hit a bunt single back to the pitcher.  Hallman doubled down the left field line to drive home Humes from second to cut the lead to 5-2 and sophomore Shayna Byers hit an infield single to drive home Jones and Hallman to cut the lead to 5-4.    
 
Norfolk State increase its lead to five after two two-run homeruns for a 9-4 lead in the top of the fifth inning, but the Lady Tigers battled back by scoring two runs in the bottom half of the inning to cut the lead to 9-6 after Humes groundout to second base to score Eccles and a solo homerun by Cortni Jones.
 
Savannah State tied the game at nine after scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning.  Byers started the inning doubling to left center, but the next two batters got out for two outs in the inning.  Mitchell hit an infield single to drive home Byers and Harris singled through the left side.  Mitchell and Harris moved up a base from a wild pitch and Eccles singled up the middle to drive home both Mitchell and Harris to tie the game at nine.  A lineout to the shortstop ended the inning.
 
Norfolk State scored the final run of the game to win the game by a run after an RBI double to right field.  Jones started off the bottom of the seventh inning with a single, but after a sacrifice bunt by Hallman, Jones tried to stretch it by going to third base, but was thrown out and a groundout to shortstop ended the game.
 
The Spartans were led by Hunter Halford going 3-for-4 with an RBI and two RBIs, while Jaylene Pryor and Kaylee Lopez went 2-for-4 each and Lopez added four RBIs and two runs scored.  On the mound, Megan Przeslawski pitched the first five innings giving up seven runs on nine hits in a no decision, while Shannon Buffington picked up the win in relief after pitching the final two innings giving up two runs on four hits.
 
The final day of the Tiger Classic concludes Sunday with South Carolina State and Norfolk State playing a doubleheader starting at 10 a.m.
 
The Lady Tigers next game in Orlando, Fla., for the Citrus Classic next weekend.  SSU faces Morgan State University at 10 a.m. and Lehigh University at 12:30 p.m. Friday, followed by Duke University at 10 a.m. and Purdue University at 3 p.m. Saturday. The Lady Tigers conclude the tournament Sunday with a matchup against Czech Republic at 11:30 a.m.
 
 
Savannah State 12, South Carolina State 0 (Feb 17, 2018 at Savannah, Ga.)
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South Carolina State 000 00 -  0  2  4      (0-3)
Savannah State...... 192 0X - 12 13  1      (3-0)
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Pitchers: South Carolina State - Phillips,Kayla; Lake,Jada(3) and Rhodes,Dezirae.
Savannah State - HALLMAN, Amanda and CYRUS, Kelsey.
Win-HALLMAN, Amanda(2-0)  Loss-Phillips,Kayla(0-1)  T-1:23  A-76
Weather: Sunny, upper 70s, wind:S@9mph
 
Norfolk State 10, Savannah State 9 (Feb 17, 2018 at Savannah, Ga.)
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Norfolk State....... 500 040 1 - 10 13  0      (2-2)
Savannah State...... 010 323 0 -  9 13  0      (3-1)
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Pitchers: Norfolk State - PRZESLAWSKI; BUFFINGTON,S(6) and LOPEZ,K. Savannah State -
DECKLE, Hannah; DICKERSON, Faith(5); HALLMAN, Amanda(7) and CYRUS, Kelsey.
Win-BUFFINGTON,S(1-0)  Loss-HALLMAN, Amanda(2-1)  T-2:16  A-78
HR NSU - MORIARTY,S (1); LOPEZ,K (2); HAMMOND,J (1).
HR SSUSB - JONES, Cortni (2).
Weather: 70s, sunny, wind: S@9 mph
DECKLE, H. faced 2 batters in the 5th.
PRZESLAWSKI faced 1 batter in the 6th.
 
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