SAVANNAH, Ga.- Savannah State had their six game winning streak snapped in the first game of a doubleheader with Benedict on Saturday afternoon but the Tigers bounced back to win the second game to earn a split, in games played at Tiger Field.
Benedict won the first game 8-2 while Savannah State was victorious in the second contest 7-3.
Benedict led 3-0 after two innings of play in the first game but SSU closed their deficit to 3-2 win runs in the fourth and fifth innings.
In the fourth,
Farah Castillo was hit by a pitch and was able to score when
Johan Sandoval reached base on an error by the third baseman. In the bottom of the fifth,
Bryce Bause led off with a walk and scored on a single to center field by
Reginald Tuggle.
Benedict put the game away with two runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth.
Tuggle, Sandoval and
Addrian McNeal Jr all had two hits for the Tigers.
Brayden Thomas and
Adonis Perez combined to strike out eight Benedict batters.
Thomas pitched seven innings and gave up three earned runs while recording six strikeouts while Perez struck out two in his two innings while surrendering three earned runs.
In the second game,
Gregorio Gonzalez pitched seven innings and struck out 11 batters.
Benedict scored a run in the first inning and Savannah State responded with two in the second and third innings for a 4-1 advantage.
Castillo and McNeal hit back-to-back singles to lead off the second inning. A single by Sandoval allowed Castillo to score and when
David Sanders hit into a double play, McNeal came home.
Tuggle started the third inning with a walk and a triple by
Kendal Spencer allowed Tuggle to score. Spencer scored on a single up the middle by
Brevin Smith for a three run lead.
The Tigers scored three times off one hit in the sixth.
Chandler Hicks and
Julian Grier drew walks and Tuggle was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Spencer whose single to right field brought home Hicks and Grier. One batter later, Tuggle scored on a passed ball to make the score 7-1.
Benedict scored twice in the top of the seventh for the final runs of the game.
Spener had two hits and three RBI for the Tigers while Tuggle scored twice.
The win improves Savannah State to 12-6 overall and 11-3 in the SIAC.
The teams will close the series on Sunday at 10:00am at Tiger Field.
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